PERU have partnered with the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation to collaborate on a number of projects and outputs relating to SIBs, including:

• Some of the initial publications around SIBs: the book Payment by Results and Social Impact Bonds: Outcome-Based Payment Systems in the UK and US, published in 2018. It is featured in an article by Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF). In addition, the paper “Payment by results and social impact bonds in the criminal justice sector: New challenges for the concept of evidence-based policy?” These publications have a wide academic reach and impact: the former has been cited 45 times in other publications; the latter over 200.
• Speaking at a Social Innovation Event, Professor Chris Fox spoke about the research PERU has undertaken on SIBs and discussed the findings of the book with Professor Gary Painter.
• Their most recent collaborative project, Social impact bonds 2.0: exploring the future of SIBs, has seen a number of briefings released around four areas: the next step for SIBs; SIBs as a catalyst for innovation; SIBs go global; SIBs and COVID.

Commissioned by Bridges Outcomes Partnerships and underpinned by the findings of a previous evaluation of SIBs, PERU recently evaluated two outcomes-based contracts that employ strength-based and co-created ways of working with people: Kirklees Better Outcomes Partnership and Greater Manchester Youth Homelessness Prevention Project. Other SIB evaluations include Cornwall Frequent Attenders (formally Addaction) SIB and the Skill Mill SIB evaluation– a programme based in Newcastle to provide employment and training in outdoor work for young prolific offenders (aged 16-18).

In 2022, PERU led a collaborative evaluation of the ‘Everyone In’ social investment pilot in partnership with Better Society Capital and a range of other key stakeholders including frequent collaborator the Centre for Homelessness Impact. The pilot, launched by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2021, aims to deliver over 200 move-on homes to rough sleepers and individuals at risk of homelessness. PERU’s evaluative strategy includes a feasibility study, a process evaluation, an impact evaluation and an economic evaluation. Crucially, PERU’s approach foregrounds the lived experiences of those accessing the scheme, and the interim findings of the evaluation are fed back into the pilot in order to inform its ongoing development.

PERU’s work on public service reform centres on the role of people in designing and delivering services fit for the new social and economic challenges we face in the twenty first century.

In a project funded by the European Union on Innovative Social Investment: Strengthening Communities in Europe (InnoSI) PERU led a large international consortium looking at different models of welfare reform and their impact on local services and local communities. It led to two publications, the book Implementing Innovative Social Investment: Strategic Lessons from Europe and the paper “Innovation and Social Investment Programs in Europe”. Both have been cited in other academic papers. In addition, the findings of the project were disseminated at a conference in Leuven.

PERU played a leading role in “Co-creation of Service Innovations in Europe (CoSIE)”. Running across 10 EU countries with 24 partners, the project involved co-designing, enacting and evaluating ten pilots to test and develop diverse methods of co-creation. A range of outputs were produced, including academic papers, community reporting videos and a roadmap to co-creation in public services. The pilots have already had a real-life impact in countries such as Finland, Estonia, Hungary and Spain. For instance, future funding has been secured for projects to continue; co-creation methods have been implemented; the pilots have been highlighted as hugely successful and influenced further decision making.

The long-term impact of the work PERU does in social innovation can be evidenced by projects such as ‘An economic appraisal of the long-term costs and benefits of Young Carers services’, which is still influencing work today:

• Findings used in a 2011 report by Baker Tilly, commissioned by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers: Social Impact Evaluation of five Carers’ Centres using Social Return on Investment
• Referenced in the ‘Carers joint commissioning strategy refresh 2013-2015’ for East Sussex Council.
• Referenced in an e-book published in 2020: Parents with Mental and/or Substance Use Disorders and their Children, edited by Nicholson et al.