What Works Network

The What Works Network aims to improve the way government and other public sector organisations create, share and use high-quality evidence in decision-making. It supports more effective and efficient services across the public sector at national and local levels.

Read the What Works Network Strategy, published in November 2023. See an earlier report, the What Works Network: Five Years On, published in January 2018.

What Works is based on the principle that good decision-making should be informed by the best available evidence. If evidence is not available, decision-makers should use high-quality methods to find out what works.

The network is made up of 9 independent What Works Centres, 3 affiliate members and 1 What Works Programme. The different membership types are described in the What Works Network Strategy. Together, these centres cover policy areas which account for more than £250 billion of public spending. What Works Centres are different from standard research institutions. Each centre is committed to increasing both the supply of and demand for evidence in their policy area, and their output is tailored to the needs of decision-makers.

The centres help to ensure that robust evidence shapes decision-making at every level, by

The Centres are funded by a combination of government and non-government sources including the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Dormant Assets Scheme, and the National Lottery Community Fund.