Description of the programme

The Savings and Credit Pathfinders programme targeted the ‘Struggling’ and ‘Squeezed’ segments identified by MaPS within the working-age population of the UK, and was developed as ‘test-and-learn’ activity to inform how MaPS could achieve two key outcomes:

• ; and,
• by 2021.

To support the delivery of these objectives, MaPS awarded grants to twelve ‘pathfinders’, one within each of three workstreams in each of the four nations of the UK, to deliver and test interventions. The workstreams were as follows:

• – existing practitioners within target groups
• (LCP) pathfinders – community based groups
• - embedding money guidance within existing youth support services at key transition points

The programme involved co-design of interventions which were then delivered over what was intended to be a six month period. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted both the intervention and the evaluation.

The study

The objectives of the evaluation were:

• To understand the process of setting up and running the pathfinders.
• To capture any early or indicative information that suggests potential impact on participants’ financial capability outcomes.

The evaluation was primarily based on qualitative data from three phases of engagement:

• which comprised:
• Inception meetings, evaluation workshops and theory of change workshops
• which comprised:
• Three webinars to share learning across pathfinders and fortnightly progress calls with each pathfinder
• which comprised:
• 70 telephone interviews with pathfinders, beneficiaries and MaPS stakeholders, as well as webinars to provide guidance and share learning

Additionally, quantitative data was drawn from MaPS’ quarterly monitoring reports and from any impact data/end of project analysis undertaken by project delivery partners.

Emerging impact was measured using Most Significant Change (MSC), a participatory evaluation tool where stories about change are shared.

The study was conducted for MaPS by RSM, an independent consultancy.

Key findings

The report gives detailed findings about the process of the programme and some early or indicative finding about the impact of the intervention.

In summary, the study found that the evidence-based models developed by the pathfinders can be implemented as workable interventions that can operate at scale. This supports the programme theory that saving and credit outcomes for people can ultimately be improved through greater engagement of target client groups with money support via practitioners that already work with them, and by embedding financial wellbeing provision in a holistic way, into existing systems and channels.

They found that in each workstream, the pathfinders successfully delivered most aspects of the evidence-based models they designed.

The authors concluded that the programme has shown how the evidence-based models developed by the three workstreams can be implemented in practice, to reach and engage people in money ‘first aid’: by embedding money support in services that are already used, by training trusted practitioners that work with target groups, and by exploiting existing systems and channels, strengthening partnerships, and co-ordinating networks and referral systems.

Points to consider

• The programme did not run for long enough to test whether activities deliver long term behavioural changes in beneficiaries, or to incorporate economic evaluation to assess value for money.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in numerous changes being made to the programme (e.g. extended delivery, changes of delivery methods and planned services etc), as well as significantly changed the context within which the programme was being delivered (e.g. changes to demand, creation of unforeseen barriers to service engagement etc). Whilst the pandemic was a contextual consideration for the evaluation, it created new opportunities for learning (e.g. online delivery) which will be of relevance to future programmes.
• Specific to this programme but there is much detail in here about the process of intervention design and implementation that could be used in other contexts
• Improving saving and credit use is consistently relevant.
  • Of interest to anyone involved in designing or implementing interventions to promote behaviour change such as government, support agencies or educators.