The government is proposing to make four new additions to the Magenta Book, the central handbook for departments on evaluation.
The Evaluation Task Force has asked stakeholders from across government and relevant external agencies to provide feedback on the potential updates to the guidance.
The four areas where additions are proposed are:
- Value-for-money evaluation
- "Test-and-learn" evaluation approaches and other associated terms such as prototyping
- Aligning evaluation and benefits realisation, including the distinctions between the two and how they complement and work together
- Research transparency, including analysis replicability, availability of data/code, and use of open repositories.
The ETF said initial engagement with key government stakeholders identified “an appetite to add content to the Magenta Book” in these areas.
The Magenta Book outlines central government guidance on evaluation, and is aligned with the Treasury Green Book, which sets out the economic principles that should be applied to both appraisal and evaluation.
The ETF said it is working with representatives from the Cross Government Evaluation Group, the heads of the government social research profession, and directors of analysis to review and update the Magenta Book “to reflect relevant advances in social research methods and practices” since the last refresh in 2020.
The review is aiming to enhance the Magenta Book by identifying and implementing potential improvements in evaluation methods, guidance and practice.
The ETF said it is “an opportunity to enhance the relevance and effectiveness of government evaluation guidance for government social researchers, and organisations who undertake independent evaluations for government”.
The joint Treasury-Cabinet Office unit added that the government is not "looking to revise existing content where this is accurate and reliable”.
The ETF said it is particularly keen for feedback on:
- Whether stakeholders are supportive of additional content being added to the Magenta Book in the four areas
- Whether there are other aspects of the guidance that they believe could be improved or adapted to better serve the needs of government evaluators
- Whether there are any errors or inaccuracies in the current version of the Magenta Book that should be corrected or edited for clarity.
The ETF has asked stakeholders to send this form to etf@cabinetoffice.gov.uk by 15 May.