Our experience

Projects and case studies

Examples across impact evaluation, research, needs assessments and performance intelligence — the questions each project answers and how the evidence is used. Examples are illustrative; client work is discussed in confidence.

01Research, evaluation & needs assessment projects
02Performance intelligence case studies

Research, evaluation & needs assessments

Research and evaluation projects

Examples in each area, showing the commission, the questions answered and how the evidence is used. Full project briefs, including our approach, are available on request. Illustrative examples; no client findings are reported.

Impact & Evaluation

Testing whether a programme is delivered as intended, what difference it makes and whether it offers value for money.

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Illustrative briefTypically 6–12 months, with interim reporting

Process and impact evaluation of an early help family support programme

Typical commissioner: Local authority children's services

A council has expanded a family support offer delivered through community hubs. Before deciding on future funding, it needs to know whether the programme reaches the right families, is delivered as designed and makes a measurable difference.

Key questions

Is the programme being delivered as designed, and what helps or hinders delivery?
Which families are using it, and who is not being reached?
What difference does it make to family outcomes, and how confident can we be that the programme caused it?
How do costs compare with the cost of later statutory intervention?

How the evidence would be used

Evidence for the funding decision, programme redesign and future commissioning.

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Illustrative briefTypically 4–6 months

Impact evaluation of a homelessness prevention fund

Typical commissioner: Housing authority or housing association

A discretionary fund is used to prevent homelessness by clearing arrears, paying deposits and funding short-term support. Leadership wants to know whether it keeps households out of temporary accommodation, and how its cost compares with the cost of doing nothing.

Key questions

Do supported households remain in settled accommodation at six and twelve months?
Which types of support work best, and for which households?
How does the cost of prevention compare with temporary accommodation costs avoided?
How could eligibility and targeting be improved?

How the evidence would be used

A clear basis for deciding whether to sustain, expand or retarget the fund.

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Quantitative, Qualitative & Ethnographic Research

Robust survey evidence on scale and pattern, in-depth research on lived experience, and ethnographic research studies of everyday life and service use.

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Illustrative briefTypically 4–5 months, including fieldwork

Residents' survey on cost of living and access to services

Typical commissioner: Local authority policy and insight team

A council needs robust, area-level evidence on how residents are managing financially and which services they find hard to reach, to inform its anti-poverty strategy and target support.

Key questions

How are financial pressures affecting different groups of residents?
Which households are going without essentials such as heating or food?
Which services are residents aware of, and what stops them using them?
Where are needs concentrated geographically?

How the evidence would be used

Better-targeted support and a measurable baseline for tracking progress.

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Illustrative briefTypically 3–5 months

Qualitative research on unpaid carers' experiences of support

Typical commissioner: Adult social care commissioners or an integrated care board

Uptake of carers' assessments is low and feedback suggests support is hard to find. Before recommissioning carers' services, commissioners want an in-depth understanding of carers' experiences.

Key questions

What do carers need, and how does this change over time?
What stops people recognising themselves as carers or asking for help?
How do carers experience assessments, respite and information services?
What would make the biggest practical difference?

How the evidence would be used

Carers' services shaped by lived experience, with clear priorities for recommissioning.

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Illustrative briefTypically 5–8 months, including fieldwork

Ethnographic research study of families' everyday experience of temporary accommodation

Typical commissioner: Local authority housing and homelessness service, with children's services

Families are staying longer in temporary accommodation. Casework data shows rising complaints and missed appointments, but not why. The council wants a grounded understanding of daily life in temporary accommodation — school runs, cooking, health appointments, contact with officers — to redesign its support offer and placement practice.

Key questions

How do families organise daily life in temporary accommodation, and what makes it harder?
How do distance, room conditions and moves affect schooling, health and work?
How do families experience contact with housing officers and other services?
Which practical changes to placement and support would make the most difference?

How the evidence would be used

Placement and support practice redesigned around how families actually live, not how the process looks on paper.

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Needs Assessments

A shared, defensible evidence base for strategy, statutory duties and commissioning.

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Illustrative briefTypically 4–6 months

Domestic abuse safe accommodation needs assessment

Typical commissioner: Tier-one local authority and domestic abuse partnership board

Under Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, tier-one authorities must assess the need for support within safe accommodation and keep their strategy under review. The partnership needs an up-to-date assessment covering all victims and their children.

Key questions

What is the scale and profile of need, including children and groups facing additional barriers?
Does current safe accommodation and support meet that need?
Where are the gaps, including for people with complex needs or no recourse to public funds?
What should the next strategy prioritise?

How the evidence would be used

A defensible evidence base for the safe accommodation strategy and commissioning.

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Illustrative briefTypically 4–6 months

Older people's housing and care needs assessment

Typical commissioner: Local authority housing and adult social care, jointly

With an ageing population and rising care demand, a council is reviewing whether its supply of extra care, sheltered and accessible housing matches future need, and how this affects demand for residential and home care.

Key questions

How will the older population and its care needs change over the next 10–15 years?
Is specialist housing of the right type and in the right places?
How much future demand could be met at home or in extra care rather than residential care?
What should the housing and care strategy prioritise?

How the evidence would be used

Evidence for planning policy, capital investment and shaping the care market.

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Data analytics & business intelligence

Performance intelligence case studies

Illustrative engagements showing the challenge, the signal in the data, the finding and the action it points to. All figures are synthetic. The full diagnostic analysis is available in a private walkthrough.

01HousingIllustrative case study — synthetic data

Reducing rent arrears through early intervention intelligence

The challenge

Arrears were rising steadily. Monthly spreadsheets showed the total balance but not what was driving it, so management could not tell where to act.

Key finding

42% of the increase in arrears came from new tenancies in their first eight weeks.

A small share of accounts was driving a disproportionate share of growth, and most had missed a first payment with no recorded contact.

Potential management action

Intervene after the first missed payment on a new tenancy
Report new-tenancy arrears as a separate cohort
Review payment-plan set-up at sign-up, not at escalation

Total arrears: £428k; +£61k year on year
Rent collection: 96.8%; vs 96.1% prior quarter
New-tenancy share of growth: 42%; first 8 weeks
Accounts in early warning: 184; flagged weekly

Share of arrears growth by tenancy age (%, illustrative)

0–8 wks42%
2–6 mths21%
6–12 mths18%
1 yr +19%

Outputs

Executive housing dashboard · Early-warning indicators · Weekly exception reporting

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02Adult Social CareIllustrative case study — synthetic data

Understanding demand, caseload and cost in adult social care

The challenge

Care expenditure was growing faster than referrals. Management needed to know whether more people, more complex packages, longer packages or higher provider rates were responsible.

Key finding

Demand rose 8% while spend rose 17% — volume alone did not explain the pressure.

Rising package complexity and a growing group of long-duration packages past their review date accounted for most of the gap.

Potential management action

Prioritise reviews of the highest-cost packages
Investigate provider cost variation for comparable care
Monitor long-duration packages against review dates

Demand growth: +8%; referrals year on year
Expenditure growth: +17%; same period
Average weekly package: £742; +£54 year on year
Reviews overdue: 12.6%; of active packages

Contribution to expenditure growth (%, illustrative)

Volume8%
Complexity34%
Duration29%
Unit rate29%

Outputs

Demand and activity dashboard · Cost driver analysis · Review monitoring

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03Recruitment & WorkforceIllustrative case study — synthetic data

Improving recruitment pipeline conversion

The challenge

Vacancies and candidate activity were growing each month, but placements stayed flat. Consultant reporting showed activity, not where the pipeline was breaking.

Key finding

Submissions rose 23% but placements barely moved — most loss sat between submission and interview.

A small group of client accounts absorbed consultant time at below-average conversion and margin.

Potential management action

Review the lowest-converting client accounts
Qualify vacancies before submitting candidates
Prioritise higher-converting client relationships

Submissions: +23%; year on year
Placements: +2%; same period
Submission to interview: 31%; largest drop-off
Average time to fill: 27 days; from 31 days

Funnel conversion by stage (%, illustrative)

Submission100%
Interview31%
Offer19%
Placement14%

Outputs

Recruitment funnel dashboard · Client conversion analysis · Weekly stalled-vacancy report

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Would you like to see how this applies to your organisation?

We can walk you through an illustrative approach tailored to your service area and evidence base.

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