The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has published its Civil Society Strategy in which it states that “The government will work with Nesta, Osca and Big Lottery Fund on the Good Help programme, which aims to ensure that when people have contact with public services, this contact empowers them to take action and increase their sense of control over their lives.”

Providing further weight to this commitment the document states that: “the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will explore where appropriate, ways of putting ‘self-efficacy’ at the heart of programme evaluation. This means that policy and services will be judged on how far they help people develop confidence and capability for personal and social responsibility.”

Christina Cornwell, Director of Nesta’s Health Lab commented:

“We are delighted that the Government has recognised the role of self-efficacy in achieving positive outcomes and has committed to working with ourselves, Osca and Big Lottery Fund to bring Good Help to more people.

“The concept of ‘Good Help’ is all about helping people to identify and achieve their own sense of purpose. It recognises that when a programme’s purpose is aligned with a person’s own motivations, both parties are more engaged to work together to take action. The approach can support people to create a positive cycle of action that helps them move towards their goals. In time, this can lead to transformational changes in their life circumstances.

“Our report into Good and Bad Help was a call to action for practitioners and the programme has already encountered hundreds of groups that are using these principles in their work to help people take back control of their lives.

“Today’s announcement is a welcome step to ensuring that all those who access public services receive help that will benefit and empower them.”

Richard Wilson, Director at Osca commented:

“We are delighted to be working with DCMS, Nesta, the Big Lottery Fund and practitioners across the country on the Good Help programme.

“Too often the systems that frontline staff work within undermine their ability to empower people. This has huge human and financial costs. Through the Good Help programme we have an opportunity to change this. This means that Jobcentre staff, social workers, prison officers, teachers and doctors can be better supported to enable people to feel hopeful about their lives, identify their own goals, and confidently take action.

"Excellent to see the government's commitment to "putting ‘self-efficacy’ at the heart of programme evaluation" in today's Civil Society Strategy. If done right it could transform services into engines of activation as well as liberating frontline staff."