Business Quiz About The Social Impact Bonds In The UK

29 Questions | By Socfinuk | Last updated: Nov 20, 2020 | Total Attempts: 19

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Business Quiz About The Social Impact Bonds In The UK

Welcome! This is the second Social Impact Bond interactive tool, produced in partnership between Social Finance, the Big Lottery Fund, the Cabinet Office, and the Local Government Association.

Questions and Answers

1.

Social Impact Bonds raise investment to alleviate social problems. They fund interventions which address the unmet needs of vulnerable groups of our society. A SIB is a financial mechanism in which investors pay for a set of interventions to improve a social outcome that is of financial interest to a government commissioner. If the social outcome improves, the government commissioner repays the investors for their initial investment plus a return for the financial risks they took. If the social outcomes do not improve above an agreed threshold, the investors stand to lose their investment. The main objectives of the SIB are to:· align public sector funding more directly with improved social outcomes;· increase the pool of capital available to fund prevention and early interventions;· enable a broad diversity of service providers to collaborate;· provide greater certainty over revenue streams for effective service providers; and· encourage a more rigorous approach to performance management including objective measurement of outcomes which contributes to building a broader evidence base for what works. Since the launch of the Peterborough Social Impact Bond to reduce reoffending in 2010, new frameworks have emerged and there are now 23 Social Impact Bonds in operation in the UK. These include interventions for the unemployed, adoption, homelessness and children in and on the edge of care. More than 20 proposals are in development looking at diverse areas such as end of life care, loneliness, domestic violence and troubled families.The first local authority to launch a Social Impact Bond was Essex County Council. The SIB raised £3.1 million to support 380 vulnerable teenagers on the edge of care over five years.The UK Government has been very supportive of this growing market. In 2012, it launched a £20 million fund to help public service commissioners pay for the successful outcomes of Social Impact Bonds. In 2013, the Big Lottery Fund established their own £40 million fund to encourage local government and the voluntary sector to consider the use of Social Impact Bonds.
2.
We are focusing on approaches that use payment by results (PbR) mechanisms, particularly those which involve social investment such as Social Impact Bonds (SIBs). To achieve this we have set up two funds - the Cabinet Office’s Social Outcomes Fund and the Big Lottery Fund’s Commissioning Better Outcomes (CBO) – with a joint mission to support the development of more SIBs. Between them these funds are making up to £60m available to pay for a proportion of outcomes payments for these types of models in complex policy areas, as well as support to develop robust proposals.Our shared overarching aim is to grow the market in SIBs, while each fund has a specific focus that reflects the missions of the Big Lottery Fund and Cabinet Office. For the Big Lottery Fund, this is to enable more people, particularly those most in need, to lead fulfilling lives, in enriching places and as part of successful communities. For the Cabinet Office, this is to catalyse and test innovative approaches to tackling complex issues using outcomes based commissioning.We have appointed a support contractor to work on a one to one basis with applicants submitting an Expression of Interest (EoI). Social Finance are working in partnership with the Local Government Association to deliver the contract. You can contact them by [email protected], and find details of forthcoming workshops and webinars at www.socialfinance.org.uk/eventsThe Cabinet Office Centre for Social Impact Bonds provides light-touch support to SIB developers and has produced a series of tools and resources to help develop SIBs.
- The Knowledge Box is a modular resource containing the latest thinking on SIBs
- A template and guidance for developing payment by results contracts
- You can contact the Centre for Social Impact Bonds by [email protected]
Specialist technical support post EoI is available from a range of approved specialist providers, as listed in the Directory of SIB Service Providers. This support may be fundable through Commissioning Better Outcomes Development Grants for those who complete a successful EoI.
3.

SOCIAL ISSUE AREA: Which social issues are suitable for a SIB? (select 5 from the following)
- A.
  
  Children on the edge of the care system
- B.
  
  Social isolation/ loneliness
- C.
  
  Making savings through back office integration
- D.
  
  Reducing obesity
- E.
  
  Tackling knife crime and gang membership
- F.
  
  Preventing people becoming not in education, employment or training
- G.
  
  Provision of GP services
- H.
  
  Working with complex or troubled families
- I.
  
  Increasing council tax collection rates for a local authority
- J.
  
  A community arts participation project
4.

Which of the following statements describes a situation in which a SIB might be suitable?
- A.
  
  The program is a back-office integration project using social investment to fund the upfront capital costs of new IT systems and shared back-office facilities with a neighboring authority. This co-commissioning approach will generate cashable savings, freeing up money to spend on preventative services in adults and children's social care. Outcome payments will be made on the basis that back-office services can be run effectively following the integration process.
- B.
  
  The program will work across the whole population to reduce the incidence of smoking. The social investment will be used to fund public health campaigning funds and a helpline to advise smokers on how to quit. It will work at a population level to avoid cherry-picking of the easiest cases. Outcomes payments will be made on the basis of successful placement of stop-smoking adverts on bus stops and other public spaces, and number of calls received by a stop smoking helpline.
- C.
  
  The program seeks to raise social investment to pay for services for chaotic drug and alcohol users who frequently rough sleep and offend. The services will be targeted at individuals who meet at least three of those four criteria. Outcomes will be based on the number of individuals drug and/or alcohol-free at 6 and 12 months The service will not generate significant savings for the local authority and the CCG is reluctant to co-commission. However, the council has funding available and considers this area to be a priority.
5.

Does a SIB have to be used in an area in which there is currently no public service provision?
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
6.

Can a SIB be used to fund statutory public services?
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
7.

Can SIBs be co-commissioned by more than one local authority, CCG, police crime commissioner, etc?e
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
8.

TARGET POPULATION:The definition of a SIB’s target population is:
- A.
  
  The group of individuals with historically poor outcomes in the issue area
- B.
  
  Everyone at risk of a poor outcome over the time period of the SIB
- C.
  
  The group of individuals who meet the referral or identifying criteria specified for the intervention/s to be funded by the SIB
9.

The performance of a SIB is measured against
- A.
  
  Everyone in the target population / cohort regardless of whether they engage with the intervention
- B.
  
  Only those who engage with and complete the intervention
- C.
  
  The individuals within the target population who have the worst outcomes post-interventions
10.

Providers choose the cohort they want to work with in the SIB
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
11.

There is a minimum target population size for a SIB of minimum 100-150 individuals
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
12.

The individuals within the target population needs to be known in advance of the SIB operating?
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
13.

OUTCOMES:There is no maximum number of outcomes that could be included in a SIB
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
14.

The measurement of outcomes can be done qualitatively by the providers or by the commissioner
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
15.

Which of the following could be used to attribute the impact of the intervention? (select multiple options)
- A.
  
  A Randomised Control Trial
- B.
  
  Before and after evidence
- C.
  
  Comparison against national benchmark data
- D.
  
  Matched control trial
- E.
  
  Comparison against historical data for a similar cohort
16.

A perverse incentive:
- A.
  
  Is when contracts to provide services are based on outcomes
- B.
  
  Is when outcomes metrics or outcomes payments could incentivise action which has a detrimental effect on social outcomes
- C.
  
  Is when a strict referral criteria is used to identify potential cohorts
- D.
  
  Is when inputs or outputs are used in commissioning rather than outcomes
17.

Providers are usually paid on the basis of outcomes in SIBs
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
18.

INTERVENTION:Interventions used in SIBs have to have been used before
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
19.

SIBs can be a useful means of (select all that apply)
- A.
  
  Trialling an innovative approach that has previously been piloted
- B.
  
  Scaling up interventions which have been successful on a smaller scale
- C.
  
  Testing whether a successful intervention might work with a different cohort
- D.
  
  Replacing traditional funding for a programme which has a strong evidence base
- E.
  
  Providing funding for programmes which have been trialled in the past but haven’t worked
20.

Can the intervention be a service which is currently funded and delivered by the public sector
- A.
  
  Yes
- B.
  
  Yes, but there may be a requirement to TUPE staff to a new organisation
- C.
  
  No – investors will only be willing to fund new services
21.

SAVINGS/ BUSINESS CASE:SIBs always need to generate cashable savings for commissioners in order to be feasible
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
22.

Cashable savings are:
- A.
  
  A saving that is a direct reduction in expenditure and is visible on an organisation’s budgets
- B.
  
  A saving that generates income for the organisation in the future
- C.
  
  A saving which can only be achieved if a capital asset can be decommissioned
23.

Costs avoided are:
- A.
  
  The savings that result from social return on investment
- B.
  
  Savings generated for the commissioner as a result of not having to pay for something in the future
- C.
  
  Savings that accrue to other agencies as a result of a successful intervention
24.

The responsibility of making cashable savings within a SIB falls to:
- A.
  
  The provider
- B.
  
  The investor
- C.
  
  The commissioner
25.

If an intervention results in savings to multiple agencies a SIB is not possible
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False