APPLICATIONS   

Q: Is it possible for YEF to match us up with other relevant organisations to form a consortium?  

A: We welcome applications from consortium organisations (with one lead organisation that will be YEF’s main point of contact and with whom the Grant Agreement will be signed). YEF will not however directly match you up with other organisations. It is the responsibility of applicants to form their own partnerships.  

  

Q: Does this call for proposal cover all phases of delivery (phases 1 – 4)?  

A: Yes. We are looking to appoint a delivery partner who will be responsible for delivering all phases of the programme delivery. Proposals should therefore cover design, set-up, and delivery plans for the full duration of the programme delivery.   

Q: Will I need to attend an interview as part of the application process?  

A: Only shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview. Interviews will take place on 11^th December 2023, so please block out this time in your diaries to ensure you are available if needed.  

PROGRAMME DESIGN  

Wage costs  

Q: How much should the wage be?  

A: Applicants should include the wage amount in their proposals with a strong rationale for why this is their proposed approach. We do not have an exact figure in mind. We would expect placements to be full-time for 4-6 weeks, likely at or around the national minimum wage for over 20s.  

Q: Does the wage cost have to be the same for every participant?   

A: No. For consistency, the wage may be equal across each of the employment opportunities. However, applicants may propose a different approach (e.g., wage varied by age to equal corresponding national minimum wage/national living wage where applicable). Whatever approach applicant’s set out in their proposals; it should have a strong rationale for why this is their proposed approach.  

  

Area selection   

Q: Which areas does YEF want to prioritise?   

A: We want to focus on areas with the highest rates of crime in England and Wales. The method of how those areas are identified should be set out by applicants. Most existing US schemes operate at a city level. We are not tied to this approach, however. Applicants will need to propose an approach for the unit of geography in area selection (e.g., city, local authority, etc.) in their proposals, along with a rationale for why they consider this the best approach.  

   

Q: Will this be delivered in a specific region, or will it be offered country wide?  

A: We plan to deliver the programme across England and Wales. However, applicants may propose that we scale up delivery throughout the different phases, focussing on only a smaller number of regions in the feasibility stage.   

Q: Are you looking for a provider/consortium that can deliver across a minimum number of areas identified with highest rates of crime or could this be targeted delivery to a few areas if there is evidence of capacity to meet target outcomes?  

A: We plan to deliver the programme across England and Wales, although the feasibility phase may focus on a smaller number of regions. The methodology used to identify areas with the highest rates of offending is up to the delivery partners to set out. Taking a more targeted approach with a smaller number of areas would need to be balanced with ability to hit required reach.   

  

Eligibility criteria  

Q: Which children and young people are YEF most interested in for this programme/ How flexible is the eligibility criteria?  

A: The programme should only be offered to children and young people between the ages of 16-24 at risk of becoming involved in violence. The call for proposals outlines suggested eligibility criteria, however applicants will need to refine these and provide a rationale for their focus. A more targeted approach (e.g. focusing only on hard-to-reach children and young people) will need to be considered alongside the pragmatic considerations of reaching enough participants to conduct a robust evaluation.    

Racial equity, diversity and inclusion should be taken into consideration to ensure that you have appropriate methods of reaching children and young people from minority ethnic backgrounds. Services should also be designed in such a way that they meet the needs of minority ethnic communities. Proposals should clearly set out how race equity, diversity and inclusion will be embedded into the design and delivery of the service. 

Q: What is the age range for participants?  

A: The programme should only be offered to children and young people between the ages of 16 and 24. Applicants may choose to focus only/predominantly on the lower/upper end of the spectrum and should provide a rationale for why this is their proposed approach. No nobody below the ages of 16 or above the ages of 24 should be included.   

  

Employment opportunities    

Q: Which sectors does YEF want to prioritise?   

A: YEF do not have a strong steer on this. Applicants will need to propose which sectors they aim to prioritise and provide a rationale for why they consider this the best approach. Employment opportunities should be diverse and attractive enough for children and young people to want to engage in the programme. The type of work opportunities available should aim to broaden the horizons of children and young people, providing a positive introduction to the world of work.  

  

Q: Do all placements need to be paid employment opportunities?   

A: Yes. Non-paid work or activities aimed to support children and young people into paid employment (e.g., volunteering, training, job experience placements) should not be included in your proposal.  

  

Q: Will employers be given incentives to take on children and young people like training, equipment etc?  

A: Applicants may choose to include employer incentives as part of their proposal, providing a rationale for why they think this will be an important component to include.    

  

Q: Who is expected to recruit the employer and how?  

A: It will be the responsibility of the delivery partner to recruit employers. The strategy for successfully promoting the scheme amongst employers and recruiting them will be an important element of your proposal.  

  

Working hours   

Q: What constitutes full-time employment?   

A: We would likely expect work placements to be between 30hr-35 hours per week. However, the exact number of working hours should be set out by applicants with a strong rationale for why they believe this is the best approach. Considerations such as attendance and retention will need to be balanced with dose response (i.e., ensuring participants receive enough of the intervention for it to be effective in having impact on outcomes).  Applicants may consider whether the pastoral support will happen inside or outside of the working hours, with a strong rationale provided for their approach taken.  

Q: Would the 30-35 hours per week also include any training support required for the job?   

A: Ideally any significant training should take place prior to the work placement (I.e. if two weeks of training is required, this should happen before the placement begins). A couple of days (1-3) of induction type training at the beginning of a placement would be fine. If a job requires any core training (e.g., hospitality) this would need to happen before the placement begins.    

  

Pastoral care   

Q: What does the pastoral support element look like and who will deliver it?  

A: Pastoral support will be provided to children and young people throughout the duration of their work placement. This support will likely focus on helping to frame children and young people’s expectations about the world of work, and to support them with this transition. The type and dosage of this support, as well as suggestions as to who will deliver this support, and how and when it will be delivered should be included in applicants’ proposals.  

  

Q: Will the pastoral support element be externally/separately commissioned by YEF?  

A: No. It will be the responsibility of the delivery partner to design and deliver (either directly or indirectly) this element of the programme.  

  

Special considerations  

Q: What do we do about YP who are over 18 and NEET / in receipt of universal credit?  

A: The programme design will need to consider how it may impact on participant’ rights to claim benefits, and how this will best be addressed. It is up to the delivery partner to include their approach in the proposal.  

  

Q: Who will issue payments, the delivery partner or employers?  

A: We advise that payments are issued via the employer.  

Q: The programme is targeting a high-risk population of YP, many of whom will have ACEs, and safeguarding will be a concern. Most employers are not trauma informed or capable of dealing with safeguarding issues. How do we approach this?   

A: Applicants will need to consider what safeguarding policies they will put in place to ensure children and young people are kept safe for the duration of the programme. This may for example include things like employer training.  

  

Exit strategy.   

Q: What will happen at the end of the programme? What do you expect us to do to support children and young people afterwards?  

A: An appropriate exit strategy will need to be developed as part of your proposal. The offer will need to be well integrated with local services, for example job coaches assigned to universal credit claimants should fully understand the offer, recipients should be able to use the offer to support other work applications etc.  

BUDGET  

Q: We think delivery will cost more than the estimated budget; can we bring in our own funding?  

A: Yes. Applicants are invited to bring some of their own budget to the proposal (whether this is in cash or in kind) or to plan to raise match funding during the project. This is encouraged. You can indicate your plans to do so in the budget section of the proposal.  

Q: We think delivery will cost more than the estimated budget; can we submit a larger budget as part of our proposal?  

A: Yes, within reason. The budget provided in the call for applicants is an estimation. While we believe it’s a generous grant, we would be interested in applicants submitting budgets that they feel reflects the true cost of design, set-up, and delivery (with the detailed budget clearly identifying drivers of costs). Please note that applicants are also encouraged to consider contributing additional funds (see question above).    

Q: Will the grant cover all the wage costs or would employers need to cover wages fully/partially?  

A: The wage cost will be fully covered by the YEF grant (and/or additional funding brought in by the delivery partner if relevant).  Employers are not expected to cover wage costs either fully or partially. 

Q: If 600, full time (30 – 35 hrs. per week) work placements are provided at the national minimum wage for over 20s, this will use a large portion of the estimated budget. What do we do about this? 

A: See questions above regarding the estimated budget and contributing additional funds. There is also significant scope for flexibility in the design that applicants might propose (with strong justifications/rationale included for why this is the proposed approach – this shouldn’t just be driven by cost). For example: 

• Choosing to only target children and young people in the lower age range (e.g., under 18s, 16-20s) with lower national minimum wage (YP should be no younger than 16 and no older than 24).  
• Wage costs being varied depending on certain criteria (e.g. age).  
• Placements being between 4-6 weeks (consider dose response). 
• Alternative minimum number of work hours per week (+ additional time dedicated to pastoral care)   
• Deliver to fewer young people (minimum of 400) in the feasibility stage only.  

Q: Could you outline details of costs that are eligible as part of the proposal (over and above wage costs)?  

A: Please see our budget guidance here.   

  

DELIVERY WINDOW  

Q: When does delivery of the feasibility phase need to begin?   

A: Delivery of the feasibility phase will need to be during the summer holidays of 2024 and last 4-6 weeks. We therefore expect delivery to take place between June and September 2024.  

  

Q: To be ready for delivery in June 2024, we will need to be talking to and looking at pipelines of employers and young people during the codesign phase. Is that correct?  

A: Yes, during the codesign phase (January – May 2024), to be ready for delivery in June 2024, delivery partners will need to begin a lot of the set-up work which will include recruiting areas, employers, and pastoral support networks.   

  

THE EVALUATION   

Q: Will randomisation occur in the feasibility study (phase 2)?  

A: No. Randomisation will only be taking place in the pilot study (phase 3) and efficacy study (phase 4).  Therefore, in the feasibility study, no control group will need to be recruited.  

  

Q: How would the Randomised Control Trial (RCT) work? Does this sit outside the scope of the Delivery Partner and the specified fund?  

A: The evaluation will be led by an independent evaluator appointed by the YEF. Delivery plans will however need to be well aligned with evaluation plans. The funding for the evaluation is separate from the funding for delivery. We will be taking a phased approach to delivery and evaluation, with the first year focussing on feasibility (with no randomisation or control group). If we decide to progress to the following phases, we will then be conducting a small scale RCT (pilot) and later a large scale RCT (efficacy). The independent evaluator will be responsible for conducting the randomisation.   

  

Q: How will the control group be recruited? Would it be the responsibility of the evaluator or the delivery partner?  

A: Recruitment to the programme and evaluation will be the responsibility of the delivery partner. Evaluators will help with things like information sheets and consent forms to ensure YP are fully informed of the evaluation. 

Q: How many people do you anticipate needing to recruit for the RCT control group? Is that the responsibility of the delivery partner?  

A: Yes, recruitment of all children and young people (for the intervention and control groups) is the responsibility of the delivery partner. During the pilot evaluation (phase 3) we estimate needing to recruit 1200 participants (600 to be randomised to the intervention group, and 600 to be randomised to the control group). For the efficacy evaluation (phase 4) we estimate needing to recruit 2800 participants (1400 to be randomised to the intervention group, and 1400 to be randomised to the control group). These are rough estimations, and more precise sample size calculations will be possible after the feasibility stage.  

The feasibility study (phase 2) will not involve randomisation or a control group.  

  

Q: How will we plan for exit routes at the end of each phase? Plans/preparation work for Summer 2025 would ideally need to start in 2024?   

A: The decision to progress to phases 3 and 4 of delivery and evaluation will be contingent on the findings from previous phases (I.e. is the emerging evidence promising in terms of deliverability and evaluability). We will however set up the grant in such a way to ensure continuity of delivery during those transition decision points. If recruitment and retention numbers are good, we would expect delivery and evaluation to continue into phase 3, with preparations for 2025 delivery likely starting in Autumn 2024.    

  

Q: What happens if participants do not want to consent to being randomised? Can they still be recruited into the programme? 

A: No. Anyone who signs up to the programme will also need to sign up to be part of the evaluation (i.e., no one receiving the programme can opt out of the evaluation). Randomisation will be a condition of the evaluation from the pilot stage (phase 3) onwards (so everyone singing up would be aware they have a 50/50 chance of receiving summer jobs).   

Q: If children and young people are randomised to the control group, what kind of support will they receive?   

A: For most of the projects that YEF funds we employ randomisation in our evaluations. Children and young people are usually randomised to the project of interest (in this case, Summer Jobs) or Business as Usual/BAU (i.e., the services that they would have otherwise received had Summer Jobs not been available) rather than receiving no support. As we don’t yet know whether this is an effective (or harmful) programme in the UK context, it is not the case that participants randomised to BAU would be being denied receipt of something that is already known to have positive impact.    

MORE QUESTIONS  

Q: I have more questions that haven’t yet been answered, who can I contact?  

A: Please submit any additional questions to grants@youthendowmentfund.org.uk  up until the 20th of November 2023. Please ensure you put ‘Summer Jobs_query’ in the subject line of your email. We will return responses to all questions by the 24th of November 2023.