European Social Fund in England

Current and recent work

The ESF Evaluation Team has recently published a range of evaluation reports. Reports published in 2006 included a survey of individual beneficiaries which provided in-depth information on the type of people who benefit from ESF, their views of the support they have received and the longer term outcomes these people were able to achieve after benefiting from help financed by ESF supported projects. The survey includes 'real-time' data (that is beneficiaries were contacted whilst still being supported by projects) and more longitudinal data for which beneficiaries were contacted approximately six months after leaving projects.

A survey of company beneficiaries was also published. Examining how ESF funding benefited small and medium companies assisting the development of the skills of employees.

In 2005 a 'profile of inactive beneficiaries' was produced as an addition to a Follow-up survey and involved in-depth interviews with a sample of inactive beneficiaries. It considered issues such as the distance travelled towards the labour market and explains the different factors contributing to the sustainability of outcomes for different types of inactive beneficiaries.

An evaluation of the extent to which the Global Grants programme had met its aims and objectives was conducted and used in-depth interviews with GO staff, IB's and a sample of Global Grants recipient organisations. This report was published in October 2005.

In the summer of 2007 a second research report into the effectiveness of the Global Grants support for community and voluntary organisations will be published. Where the 2005 report examined effective structures and administrative methods for this innovative funding stream, this report will feature a survey of individuals who have benefited from Global Grants.

In the Spring of 2007 the ESF Evaluation team will publish an Ex-ante evaluation to assess the relevance and effectiveness of the new ESF programme in the 2007-13 period.