1. ESF EVALUATION PARTNERSHIP MEETING 21 March 2014
ESF EXPERT EVALUATION NETWORK: FINAL SYNTHESIS REPORT ON MAIN ESF ACHIEVEMENTS
Herta Toedtling-Schoenhofer (Metis)
Professor Alan McGregor (University of Glasgow)
ESF EVALUATION PARTNERSHIP MEETING
21 March 2014

2. Overview
ESF Expert Evaluation Network is network of evaluation experts covering all 27 Member States ( )
27 Country Reports around specific policy themes and target groups (Access to employment, Social inclusion, women and young people)
Synthesis Reports generating descriptive information, findings and issues across Member States on these key themes
Synthesis Reports based entirely on Country Reports
Today feeding back on Final Synthesis Report focused on main ESF achievements
Report organised around 6 ESF policy fields: increasing adaptability, enhancing access to employment, reinforcing social inclusion, enhancing investment in human capital, promoting partnerships and strengthening institutional capacity

3. Methods
Experts review evaluation evidence and record key findings in Inventory
Experts review AIRs to extract statistical and other key sources for data and information
Experts prepare Country Reports using above, and generate commentary on range of issues
Consistency across country reports achieved through template
No primary research involved

4. Context is Critical
Lead up to ESF period of growing economies, expanding employment and declining unemployment – and ESF designed around these trends
Major shift in economic circumstances from 2008 reversing positive labour market trends (SEE CHARTS)
Substantial growth in unemployment
Major increase in % of population at risk of poverty or social exlcusion
Big variations in both of above across Member States
Recession makes it harder for ESF to achieve results, but at same time demonstrates need for major investment across EU in appropriate measures

5. % Change in Unemployment Levels (Aged 15-74), 2007 to 2012

6. % Change in Population at Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion, 2007-2012

7. Responding to Challenges: Outputs and Results (Draft Estimates)
Over 68 million participations in ESF supported activity
Major volumes engaged from priority groups
Over 35.2 million participations involved women
Nearly 27.6 million with low levels of educational achievement
Over 22.1 million unemployed
Over 20.9 million young people
Key results include
8.6 million qualifications gained
Over 5.7 million job entries
Over 400,000 helped into self-employment, or helped to start new enterprise
Particularly for social inclusion, fewer hard results available – but for some Member States significant improvements in proportion of young people staying in education or progressing to further education and training

8. Responding to Challenges: Good Processes
Adaptability in responding to recession. Shift towards
Promoting access to employment and enterprise starts
Supporting young people
Working to support mainstream provision
Maintaining or increasing mainstream services
Increasing intensity or quality of mainstream services
Investing in local partnership-based service delivery
More joined up service, particularly around social inclusion
Building capacity of local partnership organisations
Setting and supporting clear and strong priorities
Young people, most impacted by recession
Women, migrants and ethnic minorities

9. Responding to Challenges: Scope for Improvement
Activity in social inclusion policy field not so effective
Poorer targeting of priority groups such as disabled people and those with mental health issues
Lower levels of results where engaged
Evidence base needs to be improved
Limited quantitative evidence on results – but should be fixed for programming period
Limited good quality impact evaluations
Few robust assessments of Community Added Value
Limited number of evidence-based good practice assessments

10. Looking Forward
Great opportunity to raise effectiveness with ESF
Lessons learned from Expert Evaluation Network (EEN)
Lesson learned from Ex Post Evaluation of ESF
Take confidence from considerable contribution made in difficult operating environment facing ESF
Over 5.7 million job entries
Potential to contribute in major way to EU 2020 target of 75% employment rate