Authors: Rachel Wooldridge and Tim Fox
Location: United Kingdom
The CBO programme is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and has a mission to support the development of more social impact bonds (SIBs) and other outcome-based commissioning (OBC) models in England. The Programme launched in 2013 and closed to new applications in 2016, although it will continue to operate until 2024. It originally made up to £40m available to pay for a proportion of outcomes payments for SIBs and similar OBC models in complex policy areas. It also funded support to develop robust OBC proposals and applications to the programme. The project that is the subject of this review, Reconnections,
was part-funded by the CBO programme.
This service aimed to reach 5,100 people in Worcestershire aged over 50 who were experiencing loneliness and social isolation, by linking them up with a volunteer who would provide one-to-one tailored support, and a plan and support to help them reconnect with their local community. The service was co-commissioned by a partnership of Worcestershire County Council, three local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), The National Lottery Community Fund and Central Government (Cabinet Office and then DCMS).
This is the third of a series of in-depth reviews exploring the development of the Reconnections SIB over time. The focus of this report is on the project’s progress since the second review, how the SIB mechanism has affected delivery and outcomes, and the legacy of the project. It draws on interviews with commissioners, service providers, investors, and The National Lottery Community Fund, alongside data provided by programme partners and the CBO Fund.