ADR UK and Ministry of Justice Data First Evaluation Fellowship

New funding call to explore the feasibility of using administrative data to evaluate policy and practice interventions in the justice system.

Applications are invited for two evaluation fellows to explore the feasibility of using administrative data to evaluate policy and practice interventions in the justice system. Fellows will use quasi-experimental methods to understand whether specific interventions are effective at delivering intended outcomes, such as:

  • Reducing reoffending
  • Protecting the public
  • Delivering swift access to justice.

The evaluation fellows will access de-identified and linked administrative data made available in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS) or the SAIL Databank through the Data First programme, led by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and funded by Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK). They will use this existing linked data to explore interactions across justice services over time, including courts, prisons and probation services, and assess the impact of changes in policy and practice on user outcomes.

The fellowships will follow three phases.

  1. Scoping phase (three months, February 2023 to April 2023)
  2. Implementation phase (12 months, May 2023 to April 2024)
  3. Impact phase (three months, May 2024 to July 2024).

Proposals are welcome from individual researchers based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding.

The full economic cost of the project can be up to £177,500. ESRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.

Applications must be submitted online by the deadline of 26 October 2022 (4pm UK time).

(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)