Evaluation of the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB)

Product Description

The Home Office commissioned The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to undertake a process evaluation to assess whether the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) is being implemented as intended and the extent to which it is perceived to be achieving its intended outcomes. The evaluation aims to provide the Home Office with a clear and strong evidence base that will enhance the quality of age assessment decision-making.

The evaluation was conducted in 2 stages:

• Baseline stage (October 2023 to April 2024): this included a literature review and 50 in-depth interviews with Home Office Staff, local authority staff and external stakeholders with and without access to the NAAB Minimal Viable Service (MVS), which refers to the introduction of the NAAB service across a limited number of regions.
• Endline stage (September 2024 to December 2024): this consisted of 36 interviews with Home Office and local authority staff; this included in-depth and case illustration interviews which aimed to examine the enablers and barriers to effective implementation of the NAAB service nationally, as well as local authorities’ and social workers’ experience with the NAAB service (including the extent to which they considered it to meet its intended outcomes).

This report focuses on the endline stage of the evaluation (national rollout). However, the report also provides a summary of the findings from the baseline stage (MVS).