National Leaders of 
     Governance (NLG) 
     reform: year 1 
     evaluation 
     Research report 
     November 2022 
     York Consulting LLP 
                         1 
           Contents 
           List of tables                                                                          3 
           List of figures                                                                         4 
           Glossary of terms                                                                       5 
           Executive Summary                                                                       6 
             Evaluation aims and activities                                                        6 
             Findings                                                                              7 
             Conclusions                                                                          12 
           Introduction                                                                           13 
             Background                                                                           13 
             The reformed NLG programme                                                           14 
           Methodology                                                                            18 
           Findings: Capacity of NLGs recruited                                                   21 
             Are recruited NLGs meeting needs?                                                    21 
             Is the amount of NLG support sufficient and appropriate?                             26 
           Findings: Deployment of NLGs                                                           28 
             How effective is the referral process?                                               28 
             How effective is matching?                                                           35 
           Findings: Quality of NLG role delivered                                                37 
             What NLG activities are undertaken?                                                  37 
             Do NLGs provide the skills and knowledge required?                                   39 
             How effective is the NLG role?                                                       40 
           Findings: Process efficiency                                                           43 
             How effective is NLG recruitment and training?                                       43 
             How effective is quality assurance?                                                  45 
           Conclusions                                                                            46 
           Appendix A                                                                             48 
            
                                                       2 
            
        List of tables 
        Table 1 Qualitative interviews .......................................................................................... 19 
                                                              th
        Table 2 Number of NLGs applied and designated by region able to work (at 25  May 
        2022) ............................................................................................................................... 22 
        Table 3 Number of designated NLGs and referrals per region (at 25th May 2022) .......... 24 
        Table 4 Number of eligible maintained schools and referrals by region ........................... 31 
                                      3 
         
        List of figures 
                                                  th
        Figure 1 Timeliness of report submission from matching (at 25  May 2022) ................... 27 
        Figure 2 Number of referrals by commissioning route, aggregated over 2-month periods 
        (at 25th May 2022) ............................................................................................................ 29 
                                                  th
        Figure 3 Number of referrals and deployment by region (at 25  May 2022) .................... 30 
                                      4