Recommendation 10

HM Government Acknowledged

Equity and safeguarding considerations are an integral part of delivering good value for money in the FCDO. We agree that securing value for money in development programmes should not compromise the safeguarding of people with disabilities and believe the FCDO value for money policy is consistent with this. Equally, we know a strong focus on value for money is important for disability inclusive development – it ensures that UK taxpayer resources have the greatest positive impact on the poorest and most vulnerable, including people with disabilities. The current FCDO approach to value for money already gives special attention to “Equity” and efforts to reach the poorest, most marginalised, and hardest to reach people in society. ‘Equity’ is a core element of its ‘5Es Value for Money Framework’ – alongside ‘Economy’, ‘Efficiency’, ‘Effectiveness’ and ‘Cost-Effectiveness’. As the Committee has noted, there was a period when DFID’s approach to value for money placed particular emphasis on cost per beneficiary. At that stage, guidance followed what was termed a ‘3Es Framework’, listed as “Economy; Efficiency; Effectiveness”. This was revised to include the ‘Equity’ principle; requiring consideration of how ‘fairly’ benefits were to be distributed, and to what extent the proposed activity would reach marginalised groups. This approach was adopted by the FCDO, alongside an explicit recognition of the importance of Cost-Effectiveness, into a ‘5Es Value for Money Framework’. This was underlined in the FCDO Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) rules which include the following: “All programmes and policies must consider and provide evidence on how their interventions will impact on gender equality, disability inclusion and other equality considerations. An approach that integrates equality and inclusion improves the value for money of programmes, through increased equity and cost effectiveness. It improves programmes’ social impact, the focus on poverty reduction, and reduces the risk of unintended consequences. It can help us to better design, deliver and target our interventions and explain who is benefitting from our activities and funding”. [FCDO PrOF Rule 9 – Gender Equality, Disability Inclusion]. Whilst FCDO has inherited a strong equalities-based approach to value for money and development, it is important staff are supported to apply this across the full range of contexts in which the organisation operates. This is because the different lenses through which to view equity will vary by country, just as the characteristics and identities of people most at risk of extreme poverty, exclusion, stigma, violence and discrimination varies by context. For this reason, we intend to update the equity and value for money guide and share across our network. We will provide an additional update by the stated deadline of April 2025.