7th Report – Assessing Value, Ensuring Impact: The FCDO's Approach to Value for Money in Official Development Assistance

The government partially agrees, committing to update its internal PrOF Guide on Value for Money (VfM) for staff in 2026 and publish a version for external partners. It will also produce a specific internal 'Equity and VfM' guide for staff.

The government partially agrees on the importance of philanthropic partnerships, stating it is committed to deepening these, has convened strategic roundtables, and is proactively assessing ways to systematically partner, including through strategic dialogues.

The government partially agrees, noting it already convenes strategic roundtables with philanthropists and is proactively assessing ways to systematically partner, including by convening strategic dialogues to align work and share knowledge.

The government partially agrees, committing to ensuring MEL requirements do not create barriers for smaller organisations through proportionate application and forthcoming guidance updates. However, they do not accept the recommendation to establish business hubs, deeming a one-size-fits-all approach inappropriate.

The government partially agrees, noting existing cross-government guidance supports consistent MEL standards and that a refreshed ODA Delivery and Impact Board will improve data sharing and alignment across government. However, they do not fully commit to standardising all reporting requirements nor to the specific oversight role recommended, maintaining decentralised decision-making.

The government partially agrees, committing to update its Value for Money (VfM) guidance in 2026 to communicate more clearly the basis on which VfM is assessed. However, it clarifies that, in practice, its ODA expenditure assessments already focus on the impact on those living in poverty.

The government partially agrees, stating it will update its Value for Money (VfM) guidance in 2026 to more clearly communicate to staff and partners that improving the lives of those in poverty is a core principle, while affirming that current assessments already align with this objective.

The government partially agrees, stating sustainability is already integrated into its VfM approach but will develop refreshed VfM guidance in 2026 with a stronger focus on assessing sustainability at each stage.

The government partially agrees, stating sustainability is already integrated into its VfM approach and that refreshed VfM guidance will be developed in 2026 to strengthen its assessment, but does not commit to making it a named central tenet by the specified deadline.

The government partially agrees, stating it has added ‘locally led’ as a principle in the refreshed PrOF and will provide detailed guidance, indicating local leadership as an organizing principle but not explicitly committing to a new cross-departmental strategy.

The government agrees more can be done to improve IATI publishing and is reviewing its approach to partner publishing, aiming to increase the proportion of partners that publish data while streamlining the process. However, they acknowledge challenges with sensitive data and financial burden for implementers, not fully committing to requiring *all* contracts to adhere.

The government partially agrees, acknowledging the need to ensure MEL requirements do not create barriers for smaller organisations. They commit to forthcoming updates to MEL guidance and programme performance reviews to reinforce a proportionate approach, and will work to eliminate obstacles for local actors.