Monitoring and Evaluations

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Expert Evaluation and Research Consultancy

At Edale, we’re experts in offering comprehensive research and evaluation for economic development and social projects.

We produce clear reports that assess delivery and results, explain the evidence and provide feedback for future work.

Our partners are local and combined authorities, local enterprise partnerships, universities and other interested parties, who want to measure and maximise the effects of their interventions, including many ERDF and ESF projects.

Why Choose Edale for your project evaluation?

Evaluation is an important part of the project execution process as it helps organisations identify what works, adjust interventions, and show accountability to funders. Our research provides the evidence you need to:

Show funders that you’ve achieved your objectives.
Make a compelling case for more funding.
Develop strategies for future initiatives.

Our Expertise

We offer full evaluation services tailored to your individual requirements. As an expert in HM Treasury’s Magenta Book and Green Book guidance, we use best practices for projects of any size, from national government schemes to localised schemes. Our capabilities include:

Evaluation of the Process: Understand how your project was executed.
Impact Analysis using Counterfactual Hypothesis: Taking results against a “what if” case.
Theory of Change: Identifying the causal pathways your action is driving.
Cost Benefit Analysis: Analysing the return on your project.
Value for money: Calculating various values for money, social return on money, and gross value added (GVA).

Tailored Evaluation Methodologies

No project is the same, and so we have an approach that changes to needs and projects. We consult with you to craft evaluations that ask the right questions for you and your stakeholders. Our services include:

Flexible approaches based on your and your funder’s needs.
Clearly presented data and strong narratives to highlight successes.
Critical assessments where appropriate negative experience and underperformance needs contextualising.
Ongoing support to keep the evaluation useful and proportionate.

Our Approach to Good Evaluation

We think a decent evaluation is:

Beneficial: Responding to the requirements of the key stakeholders and supporting decision-making.
Realistic: Being objective and open about results.
Data-Based & Solid: With well thought out, well-implemented methods.

Combining these values with intensive collaboration, we provide assessments that show the value of your project and guide future policies and programmes.

We work with our customers to support economic development and levelling up by gaining more knowledge about what works. Our analyses enable organisations at every government level to discover potential and effect real change.

Discuss your project with Edale to agree the evaluation questions, scope and deliverables.

Programme evaluation and impact assessment

Edale helps programme teams understand what was delivered, who benefited and what the evidence says about results. We scope independent research and evaluation around the decisions you need to make, the available data and your funder’s requirements.

What an evaluation can cover

Evaluation planning: clarify the theory of change, evaluation questions, indicators and evidence collection plan.
Process evaluation: examine delivery, participation, accessibility and the experience of partners and beneficiaries.
Outcomes and impact: assess changes and the programme’s contribution, using comparison evidence where feasible.
Value for money: consider costs and benefits with transparent assumptions and proportionate methods.
Learning and reporting: bring together findings, limitations and practical recommendations.

From brief to usable evidence

Define the questions. Agree the programme context, stakeholders, decisions, timetable and reporting requirements.
Review the evidence. Examine monitoring data and documents, identify gaps and agree a realistic research approach.
Carry out the research. Use interviews, surveys, case studies and analysis suited to the assignment.
Test and report the findings. Explain the strengths and limitations of the evidence, distinguish outputs from outcomes and present recommendations for action.

Depending on the agreed brief, deliverables can include an inception plan, logic model, research instruments, interim findings, a final report and a presentation for stakeholders. The proposal specifies which outputs are included.

Delivery example: Digital Pathfinders

Challenge: understand the effectiveness of a funded business support programme serving the North of Tyne region.

Edale’s work: external evaluation, informed by an understanding of the organisation, its services and its client base.

Output and client feedback: a final evaluation report. The client described a responsive review process and useful insights into programme effectiveness. Read the published client feedback.

Questions before commissioning an evaluation

When should we start? Early planning helps you establish indicators, baseline information and consent arrangements. If delivery is already underway, we can review the available evidence and identify a proportionate approach.

Can every evaluation prove impact? The strength of an impact claim depends on the design, data and comparison evidence. The report should explain what can be concluded and where uncertainty remains.

What should we send? Share a programme summary, funder requirements, delivery dates, monitoring framework, available data and budget range. Do not include personal beneficiary records in an initial email.