Coronavirus (COVID-19) Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group: terms of reference

Context

Scottish Ministers have identified the need to establish a Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group to support robust organisational learning from Scotland’s approach to the pandemic. The Oversight Group will run over a period of two years and will be chaired by Professor Linda Bauld (Interim Chief Social Policy Adviser). Meetings will be held every 2-3 months (although may be held more frequently initially whilst establishing a work programme for the group). Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Group members have been selected on the basis of their connections, knowledge and expertise.

Remit

The Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group will provide active and effective direction, support and guidance in order to support the Scottish Government and partners to: 

• prioritise and agree a small number of key Covid-19 learning and evaluation questions which will be critical in supporting future policy decisions
• deliver and oversee a coherent and pragmatic programme of evaluation and learning to address key Covid -19 evaluation questions
• utilise evaluation and learning outputs to ensure learning is applied to maximum effect and impact

The Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group will be predominantly focused on outcomes evaluation rather than examining the processes related to internal Scottish Government decision making. It will take a broad approach (moving beyond a public health/NHS focus) to specifically examine the wider social and economic impacts (harm 3 and 4) associated with our decision making. It will support other sectoral and cross- cutting Covid response and recovery groups. In order to meet the Covid 19 Learning and Evaluation Group’s objectives Group members will:

• attend scheduled meetings of the Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group over the next two years and be suitably prepared to participate fully
• provide constructive and pragmatic advice about how Covid-19 learning and evaluation can be used in coordination with other initiatives to inform forthcoming policy decisions
• provide a strong ‘challenge function’, carefully scrutinising planned and underlying assumptions before decisions are taken. Provide expert analytical, evaluation and policy advice to support the success of the Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group
• build and maintain effective networks and partnerships and actively consider opportunities for joint working/collaboration to progress Covid-19 related learning and maximise efficiency in order to ensure that work adds up to more than the sum of its parts
• support the Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group to effectively foster a spirit of ‘openness and transparency’ in its work

All papers from the Covid-19 Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group will be published on the Scottish Government website.