Conclusions, Recommendations and Next Steps

Overall Conclusions:

Having considered all three elements of the evaluation, and taking into account the light touch nature of the exercise, the following conclusions have been made:

In spite of the challenges faced, the funding has been allocated in support of the priority target groups and the services have engaged and progressed as competently as other comparable employability programmes of scale.

Cutting across all areas of the evaluation is the theme of time. Too often, funding has been cut short or been temporary and the resulting impact is fragmented and discreet delivery. The decisions the GFLEP make should take cognisance of this and acknowledge the time it takes for projects to set up and develop partnerships, for project keyworkers to establish trusted relationships with partners and participants and for projects to fully operate and respond to needs.

Of particular importance is the need to establish the value and impact of delivery. Establishing this requires common definitions to be developed and a framework for gathering evidence.

An improved method of allocating funding and paying for services will contribute to achieving value and impact and these methods must align to and deliver the Fair Funding Charter and contribute to the implementation of a sustainable funding model across sectors.

However, it must be noted that the GFLEPs ability to deliver this can only be fully realised via multi annual funding agreements.

Recommendations:

The evaluation recommends that the LEP continue as is by:

· Renewing the first 3 DPS contracts for one more year until end Sept 2026

· Continuing to refine and align delivery and the ongoing review process to adapt/refocus within the current delivery using current data

· Review the position in summer 2025 to:

- prepare for October 2026 delivery

- consider extensions to all other delivery

This will allow time for:

· Developing the use of the data for future decision making (alongside the VFM framework)

· Work to begin on the skills agenda

· Investigating further methods for allocating funding, creating a timeline for the allocation of funding and refining the application process

· Developing a more sustainable payment model - involving services and Scottish Government

· Exploring partnership development and internal projects’ alignment to external contracts

· Continuing to develop a Value for Money framework, using external expertise

Next Steps:

The Employability Team will develop and deliver/co-ordinate a workplan taking forward the recommendations of the evaluation under the areas of What Works, Allocation of Funding, Payment Methodology, Partnerships, Value for Money, Data, and Delivery and Development.

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