89. Bradford Hyper Local UKSPF Evaluation
Kada Research were commissioned by Bradford Council to conduct an evaluation of a suite of projects under their Hyper Local UKSPF Programme. The programme received £7.88 million in UKSPF funding, consisted of 49 individual projects across all five West Yorkshire local authority areas and took a bespoke approach to support delivery based on local community needs.
The evaluation focused on 10 varied projects, ranging from the creation of new green spaces in inner city areas, youth engagement across diverse communities, one-to-one enterprise support and supporting young adults who face barriers to accessing work. The method centred on a theory-based approach, drawing on a range of qualitative and quantitative research sources to assess the extent to which the programme had delivered appropriate value for money interventions, and which should be supported in the event of future funding.
The evaluation concluded that, overall, the programme has performed strongly against its contracted output targets in particular evidencing strong performance via projects under the people and skills investment priority. Delivery stakeholders also cited several wider benefits, such as health and wellbeing support for young people in local communities, support for the development of social enterprises, community cohesion as a result of the development of green spaces.
The majority of Hyper Local activity has given rise to community, wellbeing and social benefits, rather than directly generating jobs or economic impacts. The evaluation process included a review of social benefits that have been achieved and their monetary value. The benefits for which an estimate has been made include public realm created or improved, volunteering opportunities supported, people sustaining engagement with a voluntary or local organisation and people gaining qualifications, licences or skills
Based on the monitoring data available and using benchmark data to fill data gaps, the combined value of the net economic and social benefits of the Hyper Local programme is estimated to be £15.6m. This compares to total expenditure of £8.1m. An estimate of the programme’s Return on Investment (ROI) is therefore 1.9:1, i.e. each £1.00 of public investment is estimated to generate £1.90 of economic and social value.
There were some lessons learnt around the programme’s governance, linkages between projects, and shortened timelines. The evaluation built on these lessons to suggest a series of practical and actionable recommendations to take forward.
If you are thinking about commissioning an evaluation study or if you would like to talk through an idea or hear about this work, you can contact us at info@kadaresearch.co.uk.
