Welfare Reform Team Evaluation of European Social Fund pilot project 2014-2015

50%
45%
43%
Confidence in ICT skills
Percent
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
28%
36%
22%
19%
11%
12%
19%
5%
5%
Entering ESF project
Final evaluation
0%
Very confident 50/50 Very unconfident
Overall there was a decrease in the reported levels of confidence in these areas at
the end of the project.
We do not know why customers reported lower confidence levels at the end of their
participation in the project, and we will be asking customer focus groups for
Customer Service Excellence re-accreditation for their thoughts. We cannot discount
the possibility that customers overstated their confidence levels at the start of the
project because they thought we would be more likely to give them a DHP.
All participants confirmed their agreement to be included in the project by signing a
short acknowledgement paragraph that was incorporated in the triage form that was
completed at their first meeting with one of the Welfare Reform Team’s caseworkers,
usually at the council offices.
Each caseworker recorded all activities undertaken with each participant in personal
customer casework files and added each referral to one or more of the network of
partners to the team’s ‘performance management framework’ spreadsheet. This
enabled the team to monitor the frequency and direction of referrals to partners both
on a real time basis and as part of progress assessment and reporting.
Economic Impact of project
The DWP has modelled an illustrative estimate of the costs and benefits that accrue
if some hypothetical typical claimant (who would otherwise have remained on
benefits) were to move into employment for one additional year. The in-work wages
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