People & Skills: Evidence Review

As part of the development of regional UKSPF evidence base, a review of policy evaluations and evidence aligned to each investment theme was completed.

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In support of the development of the regional UKSPF evidence base, we have compiled the below list of links to policy evaluations and evidence reviews aligned with the UKSPF investment themes. 

These reports show the evidence of the impact of a range of local policy interventions on economic outcomes, including jobs created, pay, and business performance. The fact that evidence is not reported here does not imply that other interventions are not successful, it indicates a lack of validated evaluation evidence.

This type of evidence can be useful to help inform the design of UKSPF interventions and prioritise the interventions likely to have the most positive impact in pursuit of the objectives and missions set out in the Levelling Up White paper (White Paper), and the investment priorities for the Fund.

In some cases, the evidence does not provide clear evidence of impact, but the reports are useful for indicating the types of effects which could be expected from an intervention.

The primary goal of the UKSPF identified by the government is to build pride in place and increase life chances across the UK. This aligns with the White Paper missions, particularly Mission 9: ‘By 2030, pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.’

The People and Skills investment priority also relates to the following White Paper missions:

  • Mission 1. By 2030, pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.
     
  • Mission 6. By 2030, the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.
     
  • Mission 7. By 2030, the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest will have narrowed, and by 2035 HLE will rise by five years.
     
  • Mission 8. By 2030, well-being will have improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.

What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth

The What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth’s (WWCLEG) main role is to analyse which policies are most effective  in increasing local economic growth and to increase the cost-effectiveness of local growth policies. They have helpfully organised their evidence base to align with the missions in the White Paper. The following reports were completed by the What Works Centre and can be accessed through their website.

Apprenticeships are positions of paid work in a firm including training provided by the employer, typically leading to a formal qualification or title. Apprenticeships can improve local economic growth in a number of ways. They are intended to improve the skills, wages and future career progression of participating individuals. They can also impact on the productivity of those firms taking on apprentices. The WWCLEG evidence review summarises the findings from 27 impact evaluations.  The evidence shows that apprenticeships can improve skills levels and stimulate further study in trainees, and apprenticeships can have a positive effect on employment and wages.

Key findings from this review:

  • There is some evidence that apprenticeships improve skill levels and stimulate further training / study.
  • Apprenticeships can increase wages, although in a couple of evaluations effects are negative. Impacts also vary by type of participant.
  • Apprenticeships tend to have a positive effect on participants’ subsequent employment (and also reduce unemployment post-programme).
  • Level 3 or higher apprenticeships deliver substantially higher lifetime wage gains relative to lower level apprenticeships (based on the limited UK evidence available).
  • There is some evidence that apprenticeships are more likely to increase employment than other forms of employment training (unless that training also involves an in-firm element). The evidence of impact on wages is more mixed and appears to vary by gender.
  • There is some evidence that firms participating in apprenticeships experience economic gains, such as higher productivity or profits. This fits with survey evidence, but more impact evaluations are needed.

Find out more here. 

Employment training refers to training targeted at people over 18, including retraining initiatives. The WWCLEG review focuses on the impact of training that is in some way publicly subsidised. Training is intended to support local economic growth by improving skills. Higher skills at the local (and national) level are linked to better economic performance and improved labour market outcomes.

Key findings from this review:

  • Training has a positive impact on participants’ employment or earnings in around half of the evaluations reviewed.
  • Shorter programmes (below six months, and probably below four months) are more effective for less formal training activity. Longer programmes generate employment gains when the content is skill-intensive.
  • In-firm / on the job training programmes tend to outperform classroom-based training programmes. Employer co-design and activities that closely mirror actual jobs appear to be key design elements.
  • Training programmes that respond to structural shocks in the local economy are usually highly tailored to a given local context. This means that pulling out generalisable findings on impact is difficult.
  • WWCLEG found little evidence which provides robust, consistent insight into the relative value for money of different approaches. Most assessments of ‘cost per outcome’ fail to provide a control group for comparison.
  • WWCLEG found no evidence that would suggest local delivery is more or less effective than national delivery

Find out more here. 

What Works Centre for Wellbeing

The What Works Centre for Wellbeing (WWCW) are a member of the What Works Network. Their mission is to develop and share robust, accessible, and useful evidence that governments, businesses, communities and people use to improve wellbeing across the UK. The following reports were produced by the WWCW and can be accessed through their website.

Between 2016-2018, the What Works Centre for Wellbeing has completed 16 systematic reviews on wellbeing and culture and sport, work and learning and community wellbeing. The ‘knowledge bank’ is the Centre’s very early step to bring all the main findings, the evidence statements and gaps from these reviews together into one searchable excel spreadsheet.

Selected evidence statements from reports included in the Knowledge Bank:

  1. Learning in the community has a positive impact on wellbeing.
  2. Unemployment is damaging to people’s wellbeing regardless of their age, gender, level of education, ethnicity or part of the country in which they live. The longer the time unemployed, the worse the effect.
  3. People do not adapt to unemployment. Their wellbeing is permanently reduced, but it affects people differently.
  4. Unemployment, mitigating factors: Living in an area with high unemployment, there may be less stigma associated with unemployment where the local unemployment rate is higher, and in the UK, this results in a smaller reduction in wellbeing from being unemployed.
  5. Men’s wellbeing is more affected by the incidence and duration of unemployment.
  6. Giving people training to develop personal resources, skills, or problem solving, so they are able to make their own jobs better may have positive effects on wellbeing, and in some cases may improve performance.
  7. Community hubs can: promote social cohesion by bringing together different social or generational groups; increase social capital and build trust; and interaction between community members; and increase people’s knowledge or skills.
  8. Changes to community hubs may increase civic participation
  9. Community hubs can increase individual’s knowledge or skills
  10.  Changes to local neighbourhood design can lead to community members feeling safer

Find out more here.

 

Other Relevant Literature

he European Social Fund (ESF) was set up to improve employment opportunities in the European Union (EU) and thereby raise standards of living. The Department for Work and Pensions managed ESF funds in England. The ESF 2014-20 Operational Programme aimed to deliver against priorities to increase labour market participation, promote social inclusion and develop the skills of the potential and existing workforce.
As part of the impact evaluation of the ESF 2014 to 2020, the DWP commissioned IFF Research to carry out qualitative case study research with projects funded by the ESF in England. The research aimed to understand ‘what works’ in the delivery of employability and skills interventions via the ESF and to provide insight into ‘how’ and ‘why’ outcomes are achieved. The research also aimed to allow some exploration of softer outcomes that can be harder to identify through quantitative analysis.
Key findings from this report:

  1.  The most important enabler of effective delivery was positive working relationships with CFOs, LEPs and with delivery partners. 
  2. Previous experience of ESF delivery enabled projects to be up and running and delivering outcomes far sooner than those with little or no previous experience delivery given contract requirements and the need for experience dealing with vulnerable individuals
  3. The key worker model with a consistent point of contact for individuals was crucial to positive outcomes offering personalised and holistic support for individuals and employers
  4. Participant lives were often chaotic and unpredictable needing to be accommodated to support‘ those hardest to help’. A varied supply chain was needed to serve this group 
  5.  In-work support needed to be sustained to ensure employment outcomes once in work offering frequent contact and guidance, although participants were often reluctant to take it up                                
  6. Some working with the harder-to-help groups said employment targets were not realistic and did not take the complexity of individual situations into account 
  7. Streamlined processes and administrative tasks needed to include measures for soft outcomes and allow better integration between local service.

Find out more here.

The Department for Work and Pensions commissioned IFF Research to conduct a study exploring the experiences of people in England who had recently left work-related training courses funded through the ESF, including the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI). Specifically, the research sought to collect information about participants’ situation on entry to and six months after they have left ESF provision (to determine long-term outcomes), and participant views on the provision. In total, 19,769 interviews were completed with ESF and YEI leavers across the pilot and mainstage, with an average response rate of 23 per cent.

Summary of findings from this research:

  1.  This was a complex and varied client group with participants having responsibilities for children under 18 of family members with little support or with mental of physical needs. These had to be addressed. The scheme reached a total of almost 40% nationally of which 31% received support
  2. Views on the provision were broadly positive. Assessing all the support received from the programme and how they may have benefited since, more than eight in ten (82 per cent) expressed satisfaction, with nearly half (46 per cent) saying were very satisfied.
  3. 53% of individuals were in employment six months after leaving the programme compared to less than three in ten (29 per cent) at entry, representing a 24 percentage point increase in employment, although there was a rise in the proportion of economically inactive from 15 to 26 per cent. 
  4. Employment among ESF-only participants grew 22%, from 32% to 54%
  5. 9% of all leavers were in education or training six months after leaving their provision (falling into the inactive group); this was more than double the proportion in education or training at time of entry (four per cent). 
  6. 26% of leavers had remained in employment, and a similar proportion (27 per cent) had moved into employment (three per cent had become inactive, one per cent were unemployed). 

Find out more here.

A study examining the economic returns to publicly funded vocational qualifications in England. This report estimates the net present values (NPVs) of Further Education (FE) qualifications started in 2018/19.

The results show that, on average, all levels of learning generate strong returns. The NPV per start for younger learners is typically higher than for older learners due to higher wage premia and a longer time left in the workforce. However, the NPV per government pound tends to be lower because of greater government costs for this group compared to some co-funded older learners.

Find out more here.

The North East LEP (now part of the North East Combined Authority) commissioned this research on behalf of the North East Skills Advisory Panel (SAP) to better understand employment and skills needs in order to help ensure that skills provision reflects and responds to them. The focus was on three sectors: Offshore Wind, Tourism, and digital employment and skills needs in the Health and Social Care sector.

Key findings from this report:

  1. The most cited reason for skills shortages are a lack of applicants with required skills, experience and qualifications
  2. Specific skills needed are complex problem solving, basic numerical skills, complex numerical or statistical skills or understanding and manual dexterity 
  3. Cost of training or lack of funds, difficulties finding the time to arrange training, and staff motivation are the biggest barriers to providing training 
  4. Future skills needs identified by this research are advanced or specialist IT skills; specialist design skills relating to offshore wind technology; complex numerical or statistical skills or understanding and complex problem solving

Find out more here.

In March 2021 the North East LEP and its Skills Advisory Panel (SAP) commissioned New Skills Consulting (NSC) to undertake research into the nature and extent of digital exclusion in the North East, focusing primarily on the economic and skills-related impacts of digital exclusion.
Key findings from this report:

  1. 5% of teachers reported that all students had access to an appropriate device for home learning during the January 2021 shutdown
  2. 82% of online job vacancies have digital skills as an essential requirement 
  3. 92% of businesses say that a basic level of digital skills is important for employees and 27% require employees to have advanced digital skills 
  4. 20% of North East employers found computer literacy or basic IT skills difficult to obtain from applicants 
  5. 23% of employers say their current workforce lacks the basic digital skills that they need, with 76% saying that a lack of digital skills would impact their profitability

Find out more here.