Learning from cost analyses: an illustration from the UK's New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP)

Abstract

This article describes a cost analysis of an employment programme available to people claiming incapacity benefits in the UK. The NDDP was delivered locally by contracted providers called ‘job brokers’. The cost analysis found great variation among job brokers' costs and profitability, much of which seems attributable to differences in job broker size. The methods described here will be useful in evaluations wherever multiple institutions are contracted by governments to deliver services, especially when these institutions are involved in several different programmes.

Notes

*In addition to the cost borne by job brokers, DWP incurred central administration costs of over £100 per registrant in operating NDDP. Thus, the total cost of NDDP was £700 to £1,100 per registrant.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Greenberg

David Greenberg is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), USA.

Abigail Davis

Abigail Davis is a Research Associate at the Centre for Research in Social Policy, Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, UK.