The ‘What Works Network’, launched in 2013, is a nationally
co-ordinated initiative which aims to “improve the way government and other organisations create, share and use high quality evidence for decision-making”. The What Works philosophy is that good decision-making should be informed by the best available evidence. If relevant or adequate evidence is
unavailable, decision-makers should be encouraged to use high quality methods to find out ‘what works’.
The What Works Centre for Crime Reduction (WWCCR) was launched in September 2013, led by a team from the College of Policing with support from an Academic Consortium. Its
work involves: Building and refining the evidence base by systematically reviewing available research on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce crime; summarising that evidence in terms of its strength and quality, cost, impact, mechanisms
(why it works), context (where it works) and implementation issues; Providing police, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and other crime reduction stakeholders with the knowledge, tools and guidance to help them target their resources more effectively.
Our three and a half year evaluation - 2014 to 2017 - conducted alongside the work of the Consortium, but independently of it, aimed to:
Assess the impact of the WWCCR, including whether it had engaged key stakeholders, produced tools and guidance that they found clear and easy to use, and improved stakeholder understanding and application of research evidence;
Chart outputs, modes of dissemination and user reactions during the evaluation;
Identify changes in use of research evidence, especially in strategic decision-making and resource allocatio
