How does £5m yield £73m worth of social gains?
A recent report looks at five carer’s centres supported by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers and places a value on the benefits to key stakeholder groups of the centres’ key activities.
In Baker Tilly’s Carer’s Centres: What impact do they have?1, the report’s author, Jim Clifford notes the charity’s services have reduced stress and depression as well as physical health problems. They have also lowered the numbers of young carers not in education, employment or training (NEET).
The evaluation criteria are based on a nominal allocation of gains attributed across key activities provided by the five centres and are listed as: carer identification; advice, information provision and practical support; learning and development; carer involvement; other services and a premium for a holistic approach.
The calculation of social return on investment (SROI) adopts the following process:
- Establish the scope of the evaluation, such as the areas of coverage and person involvement.
- Map outcomes based on feedback, such as how beneficiaries perceive any changes following intervention.
- Evidence outcomes – this means identifying data and financial measures to show whether these have been achieved.
- Establish impact and eliminate the value that would have been achieved anyway, the value attributable to the work of others and the impact of any additional costs incurred in delivering the intervention.
- Calculate the SROI and then compare this result to the value of the investment.
- Report, use and share the findings with stakeholders and embed the process of measurement and continue regular revaluation and monitoring.
Taking this particular example, the report noted that in the UK, carers provide support valued at £119bn a year and uses a life course analysis, demonstrating the impact of carers’ centres interventions for the beneficiary over several years. It then makes a calculation based on a blend of differently likely outcomes spanning the range of real life consequences that are found typically to arise and comes up with a weighted social impact per carer.
The five centres had combined annual funding of less than £5m and attributed a lifetime gain of around £14,279 per carer. On the basis of the total gain across carers in the five centres adding up to £73m, Baker Tilly identified this that the £3m funding was seven per cent of the gain once SROI was taken into account.
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers director of operations, Jane Burt, said: “These services result in a real return to society, helping carers to continue to care confidently and safely. Carers provide support that is valued at £119bn a year. And services that help carers to continue caring are vital to society’s ability to look after its increasing elderly and disabled population.” She adds: “Having the variety of services within one organisation makes it easier for carers to access different services. And interestingly, there is also a return on the investment when carers deepen their involvement with The Princess Royal Trust Carers’ Centres and can end up being valuable sources of expertise on new service developments.”
Further information about social impact measurement can be found in Baker Tilly’s report published in March 2010, Evaluating Social Impact, commissioned by the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils.2
1. www.carers.org/our-publications
2. www.bakertilly.co.uk/publications/Pages/ Social-impact.aspx
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