Minister for civil society Nick Hurd lent himself to celebrations for the twentieth anniversary of Charities Evaluation Services on Wednesday, praising the service for improving quality in the sector.

"As a result of your work, there is quality in the system that wasn’t there before. There is a great deal of pressure on the sector to communicate more effectively it’s impact, which is where you come in," he said, addressing the crowds at a celebratory event.

CES was set up in 1990 with the mission to use its knowledge of evaluation and quality systems to help civil society increase its impact. 

Hurd (pictured) used the event also to highlight an upcoming consultation on supporting and building capacity of the sector, "...that I would expect to include a debate about what we can do to help the sector monitor and measure and communicate it’s value and it’s impact in a more effective way," he said.

CES took the opportunity to launch its new Learning and Innovation Prize. The prize will reward organisations who make best use of evaluation.