An Evaluation of Social Impact Bonds in Health and Social Care

This interim report describes the progress of the nine 'Trailblazer' projects that received funds from the Social Enterprise Investment Fund in 2013 to investigate the feasibility of setting up Social Impact Bond (SIB) projects in health and social care in England. The findings discussed in this report are based on a literature review of the SIB literature and on documentary analysis and qualitative interviews with key informants involved in UK SIB development undertaken between May and November 2014. The Trailblazers cover a variety of health and social care issues and are in different stages of development. As of December 2014, two projects were operational, and five projects were still in negotiation. Two Trailblazers will not become SIBs as one project has been fully funded by a public commissioner and the other was terminated before the contractual stage. This report details the diversity of models and approaches to SIB development across the nine Trailblazer projects. Chapters 4 and 5 were written collaboratively by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and RAND Europe teams.