Performance Targets (Hansard, 1 July 2003)

§ Dr. Tonge
To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will list the targets the Department for International Development set for the(a) Performance Assessment Network, (b) Performance Reporting Information System for Management and (c) Multilateral Organisations' Performance Assessment Initiative in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [122566]

§ Hilary Benn
The Performance Assessment Network was an informal network of officials from across DFID. It was created to ensure that lessons on performance assessment were shared widely across the Department. It had no formal targets and was disbanded in 2002. Lesson-learning is now undertaken throughout the organisation (rather than by a separate unit).
Targets for improving the performance of our projects in each risk category, as measured by DFID's Performance Reporting Information System for Management (PRISM), were set under the Value for Money' target in DFID's 2001–04 Public Service Agreement (PSA) and rolled forward into the 2003–06 PSA. PRISM was rolled out throughout DFID in 2002. Now that a critical mass of performance information has been entered into PRISM, we will report progress against the baseline figures.
The Multilateral Organisations Performance Assessment Network is an association of bilateral development agencies who assess multilateral performance at country level. It has no targets and it is not for us to set them. Its main activity is to pilot an assessment exercise, after which the members will assess how it has gone and whether and how to repeat it.

§ Dr. Tonge
To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how the Department for International Development assesses whether general targets under the Joint Funding Scheme have been met. [122567]

§ Hilary Benn
The Joint Funding Scheme (JFS) closed for new project funding in May 2000 and has been replaced by the Civil Society Challenge Fund. Pre-existing Joint Funding Scheme Projects continue to be supported, but this funding will cease at the end of 2004–05.
All existing JFS projects have inbuilt Monitoring and Evaluation procedures. These produce annual progress reports and closing reports for each project. In 2000, DFID commissioned a review of the JFS which drew on this accumulated data to identify best practices and lessons learnt on the role of UK based civil society organisations in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. These findings contributed to the design and development of the new Civil Society Challenge Fund.
The Civil Society Challenge Fund also has its own built in assessment and review mechanisms and a regular programme of visits to projects in the field by DFID staff and consultants. The overall principles of the Fund are based on and complementary to the UK Government's commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.