Payment by Results Guidance: Lessons from an effective verification system
This series is based on the experience of the monitoring and verification team for the DFID Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Results Programme
Abstract
This short series of publications provides practical guidance on the design and implementation of third-party verification of Payment by Results (PbR) based on the experience of the monitoring and verification (MV) team for the Department for International Development (DFID) Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) Results Programme.
The series is intended to support DFID and other organisations when commissioning or managing third-party verification services as part of PbR contracts. The Guidance Note provides overarching lessons, useful at an early stage of thinking through the design of a PbR programme. The Verification in Practice Notes provide more detail of aspects of the design.
The WASH Results programme used a “systems-based” approach to verification. This means that unlike some PbR programmes, in the WASH Results Programme the evidence submitted to DFID about suppliers’ achievements comes from data collected by suppliers themselves (or their contracted partners). Supplier systems are appraised and data they produce are verified by the third-party MV team. This approach has benefits including value for money and those derived from strengthening suppliers’ own monitoring systems.
DFID Payment by Results Guidance Note: Lessons from an effective verification system
This Guidance Note provides 12 lessons to inform the creation of a verification system. It covers: getting the foundations right at design and tender stage, designing the verification system, resourcing and the role of commissioners in a Payment by Results contract.
Verification in Practice #1: The Verification Cycle - Step by Step
This practical note has been written to guide those involved in commissioning or managing Payment by Results (PbR) programmes by outlining an example verification cycle. Produced by e-Pact, the Monitoring & Verification (MV) team for the DFID WASH Results Programme, the note outlines the nine steps of the programme’s verification cycle and their typical order and timing.
Verification in Practice #2: Appraising Monitoring Systems
A key part of a “systems-approach” to verification is the appraisal of supplier monitoring systems, known within the WASH Results Programme as a “systems appraisal”. This note explains how the Monitoring & Verification team for the WASH Results Programme defines a systems appraisal, what it involves and why one can be useful. This will be of relevance to all those seeking to strengthen monitoring systems, not just those in Payment by Results or Results Based Financing.
Verification in Practice #3: What makes a good indicator for a Payment by Results programme?
Good quality indicators are essential to effective Payment by Results (PbR) programmes. This practical note has been written to help those involved in commissioning or managing PbR programmes to set and agree good quality indicators. It suggests seven essential characteristics of a good PbR indicator and five additional characteristics that may be desirable.
Citation
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Payment by Results Guidance Note: Lessons from an effective verification system. e-Pact, 2020
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Verification in Practice 1: The Verification Cycle: Step by Step, e-Pact, 2020
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Verification in Practice 2: Appraising Monitoring Systems, e-Pact, 2020
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Verification in Practice 3: What makes a good indicator for a Payment by Results programme?, e-Pact, 2020