Evaluation of the Problem Solving Courts (PSC) pilot

An external evaluation is required because D&A do not have the resources necessary to conduct a timely and robust evaluation in-house.

The process and, impact and economic evaluations will provide evidence to better inform future decisions regarding PSCs. Using external suppliers to conduct the two tranches of the evaluation will ensure that they are robust and maximise the expertise and experience which external suppliers can provide.

The process evaluation will inform how PSCs should be best implemented. Additionally, there will be direct benefits to this PSC project through the interim process evaluation report, which will provide lessons for the current pilot to improve while it is still ongoing. This will include a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data, which will be collected using a variety of different techniques.

The impact evaluation will demonstrate the effectiveness of PSCs in achieving their desired impact. The economic evaluation will show the extent to which PSCs represent good value for money.