4 DFID's self-evaluation function
29. In this chapter, we will comment briefly on DFID's
self-evaluation function. The way DFID carries out self-evaluation
has changed, with functions decentralised; evaluations are now
integrated within the design of individual country programmes.
DFID programme management teams and embedded evaluation advisers
within its country offices commission DFID evaluations, with DFID's
Evaluation Department playing a supporting role. According to
ICAI's recent report How DFID Learns, DFID does not know
exactly how much it spends on self-evaluation. However, it has
committed over £200m to evaluation from central budgets alone.[23]
30. ICAI's report states
Embedding evaluation into DFID country offices was
intended to promote the use of evidence within the department
[…] ICAI was mandated to provide robust external scrutiny
of the UK aid programme […] Together, these two ends of the
evaluation spectrum should help to drive the continuous improvement
of UK aid.[24]
However, witnesses were concerned that this co-ordinated
approach is not happening. David Peretz, a consultant who previously
headed the predecessor body to ICAI, the Independent Advisory
Committee for Development Impact (IACDI), said he would like to
see "ICAI making more use of DFID's internal self-evaluation
material in its work."[25]
31. ICAI's March 2014 report on How DFID Learns
said that insufficient priority is placed on learning during implementation,
and that DFID staff struggle to apply lessons from the enhanced
amount of self-evaluation material. It recommended that information
from evaluations should be synthesised so that the relevant lessons
are accessible and readily useable across the organisation.[26]
Further, the report also talked of a "culture where
staff have often felt afraid to discuss failure." One head
of department even told the authors that DFID "does not fail."[27]
The Department is taking steps to improve its attitude to failure:
DFID's management response to the report said that the Department's
Evaluation Professional Development Conference planned for October
2014 will discuss 'failure' and lessons learnt from DFID evaluations
with the explicit purpose of encouraging open discussion of what
does not work.[28]
32. We find it worrying that DFID does not know
how much exactly it spends on self-evaluation. However, the amount
committed from central budgets alone is £200 million, which
is a huge amount. Such spending might be justified if the lessons
learnt were widely diffused through the organisation but it appears
they are not: ICAI's recent finding that DFID has a culture where
staff often feel afraid to discuss failure is of great concern
to us. DFID's spending on self-evaluation dwarfs ICAI's costs,
which at only £3 million per year represent good value for
money. In its response to this report, DFID should state the
total amount that it spends on self-evaluation.
23 ICAI, How DFID Learns (April 2014), para 2.30 Back
24
ICAI Annual Report 2013-14 para 7.2 Back
25
David Peretz (ICAI 03) p.1 Back
26
ICAI, How DFID Learns (April 2014) para 3.24 Back
27
ICAI, 'How DFID Learns' (April 2014) para 2.15 Back
28
DFID Management Response to 'How DFID Learns' (April 2014) Back
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