Impact measurement is increasingly a key issue across the civil society sector. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires, for the first time, all public commissioning bodies in England and Wales to consider how the services they commission and procure might impact on economic, social and environmental wellbeing.
Understanding and managing this broader measure of value is becoming increasingly important for public sector bodies. Although we use terminology such as impact, benefit and value, the question of what difference we are making to people’s lives and the communities where they live and work still remains at the heart of much of what the public sector is about.
During the past 12 months Planning for Real has conducted a number of SROI (Social Return on Investment) analyses. These include an SROI report on Ashram Housing Association’s Employment and Skills Service which was found to be creating £5.19 of social value per £1 of investment. This report has been independently assessed by the SROI Network and received external assurance and Planning for Real now has an in-house accredited SROI practitioner.
We have also prepared a number of SROI reports for ESF (European Social Fund) projects which the Accord Group have been involved in. These include four reports for the AIM (Active Inclusion for Mainstreaming) project which ended in June 2012. The AIM project provided offenders and those at risk of offending with the opportunity to acquire workforce skills, helping them into employment and increasing their prospects for job retention. Our analyses focused on the social return created by the Business Enterprise Support Limited (BES) Enterprise Coaching Service, The Nuneaton Veterans Contact Point (VCP), Fry Housing Trust’s Job Coach Service and the YSS Offender Support Service.
Whether you are looking to carry out a full SROI type analysis of your project / organisation or a more light touch evaluation of the social impact of your work, we can help. We have a wealth of experience in designing and running interactive stakeholder workshops which will help you build an evidence base, and we can offer support in evaluation and forecasting the social impact of specific projects or activities. Please email us at info@planningforreal.org.uk or use the enquiry form on this website if you would like to more details.