Evaluating our impact

We’re committed to evaluating the outcomes and impact of our work. We’ve signed the NCVO Code of Good Impact Practice and are committed to evaluation that is credible because it is robust, independent, inclusive, transparent and planned. 

Economic and social value of the UK adult social care sector: England 

Skills for Care was the first organisation to commission research into the economic value of adult social care in England and regularly update it. 

For this most recent project Skills for Care and Development commissioned Alma Economics to analyse the adult social care sector’s economic and social value in the UK as a whole and in each of the four nations using data from 2022/23.

It’s used to inform the economic case for investment in the social care sector and its workforce in the UK as a whole (as well as having national breakdowns). It’s also used to inform policy-making and national spending review decisions on investment.

The total direct, indirect, and induced value of the adult social care sector in England was £60.2 billion.

The socioeconomic benefits of the adult social care sector in England were £265 billion, while the costs were £110 billion (2023). This means that for every £1 spent in the sector, there was £2.40 in socioeconomic benefits. 

NB It is important to note that the findings are not necessarily comparable [with previous reports] due to differences in (i) data; (ii) methodology; and (iii) other external factors. As a result, we cannot [Alma Economics was unable to] comment on the causes of any changes in figures since 2016, since these are not necessarily attributable to the sector itself

The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England report 2024 uses this data in section 1.3 - 'Economic contribution' of the report. 

Workforce Development Fund (WDF) - Impact evaluation

The Workforce Development Fund (WDF) has been subject to seven independent evaluations, together covering the 13-year period from 2011 to 2024. The meta-analysis report provides a longer-term assessment of the outcomes and achievements of the WDF, including its economic contribution.

The Workforce Development Fund is a funding stream from the Department of Health & Social Care disbursed to adult social care employers by Skills for Care. It aims to support take-up of vocational learning in adult social care by providing a contribution towards the cost of learning. An independent evaluation of the Fund from 2022-24 found that:

• 93% of employers said it improved the skills and qualification levels of their staff team
• 91% said it improved the quality of care they provide
• 82% said it addressed the most pressing skills gap in their organisation.

People who employ their own care and support (individual employers) and user-led organisations reported a wide range of positive impacts arising from the funding, including improved knowledge and skills.

High proportions of individual employers stated that it had made their care and support more relevant to their needs, had made training more affordable and had helped them to retain their personal assistants.

Take a look at the key statistics for the WDF mainstream fund and individual employer funding.  

Principles of Commissioning for Wellbeing level 5 qualification - Impact evaluation 

Skills for Care worked with partners to develop the Principles of Commissioning for Wellbeing level 5 qualification. The qualification has now been in place for several years and has been accessed by hundreds of commissioners across social care and health, including a version of the qualification contextualised to learning disability and autism.

Skills for Care commissioned Melanie Henwood Associates to evaluate the impact of the qualification on commissioning practice.

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