Confused by Payment by Results? New report launched today to help youth sector and commissioners

Social Finance has today published a report looking at Payment by Results in the youth sector, entitled ‘Youth Outcomes: a guide for service providers and commissioners’. Produced on behalf of the Catalyst consortium, a NCVYS coordinated strategic partnership to the Department for Education for Youth, the report is intended to complement the Payment by Results and Social Investment resource published by NCVYS last year to help organisations become more sustainable.

The report builds on combined experience to demonstrate how Payment by Results contracts might be used to improve youth outcomes, outlining key considerations for both large and small youth sector service providers and commissioners who are considering whether and how to engage with Payment by Results as a business model.

The report also focuses on three case studies, illustrating how Payment by Results contracts in the youth sector might differ from traditional contracts. The case studies cover children in care, youth unemployment and youth offending.

Beth Parker, Director of Service Development at NCVYS, said: “Given the nature of Payment by Results contracts at the moment, there’s an assumption that only large organisations are able to take them on board and successfully compete for work. We hope the report successfully demonstrates considerations that organisations of all sizes must demonstrate to take on outcomes based contracts.”

Louise Savell, a Social Finance Director and one of the report authors said: “As governments increasingly look to use outcomes-based contracts to deliver more for young people, it’s important that service providers can assess whether and how to participate. Social Impact Bonds and other outcomes-based financing mechanisms can facilitate such participation. We hope this guide will help demystify and empower the sector.”

The report can be downloaded and read online here: Youth Outcomes: a guide for service providers and commissioners