The Public Service Agreement

What is the Public Service Agreement?  

DFID's key aims and objectives are set out in its Public Service Agreement 2005-2008 (PSA). We are currently working towards our 2003-2006 PSA, however we have now agreed how we will progress our work over the period beyond this, in a new PSA covering 2005-2008.  The overall aim of the Public Service Agreement is ‘the elimination of poverty in particular through achievement by 2015 of the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals are the long-term targets that we want to reach by 2015. However, we need to track progress along the way. The Public Service Agreement sets out targets that we need to reach by 2008, this will help us assess whether we are on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

• Public Service Agreement 2005-2008 (46 KB)
• Public Service Agreement 2003-2006 (112 KB)

The Secretary of State is publicly accountable for delivery of DFID’s Public Service Agreement. Within DFID the Management Board has a collective responsibility for delivery. Directors are individually accountable for their objective/targets, and through their Delivery plan will delegate responsibility to the teams in their department. So everyone who works in DFID is in part responsible for delivering the Public Service Agreement.

Technical note

Associated with DFID's new PSA is a Technical Note (220 KB), which describes how progress against each of DFID's PSA targets will be assessed and measured. Where appropriate, it includes the statistical methodologies to be applied, sources of data and baselines.

Conflict technical note

There is a separate Conflict Technical Note (79 KB) detailing how we will measure progress against our conflict prevention target. This has been produced in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). A summary of this document is included in DFID's main Technical Note.

What's in the Public Service Agreement?

The Public Service Agreement is based on the Millennium Development Goals, and is made up of five objectives and targets covering the work of Africa Division, Asia Division, Europe, Middle East and Americas Division, International Division, Policy Division and a crosscutting Value For Money target. Three of the targets are shared with other Government Departments.
The 16 key African countries chosen for the PSA are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. In 2002/3 they received 88% of total DFID spend in sub-Saharan Africa. For monitoring purposes, these 16 countries will remain a fixed group over the PSA period. 
The 9 key Asian countries chosen for the PSA are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam. In 2002-03, these 9 countries received 87% of total DFID spend in Asia. For monitoring purposes, the 9 countries will remain a fixed group over the PSA period.

Where can I check progress towards our Public Service Agreement Targets?  

A full report of progress against our Public Service Agreement is published every year in DFID’s Departmental Report. Progress against the Public Service Agreement objectives is also reported annually in the Autumn Performance Report (611 KB).

Back to top