Skip to Content
TS-BGS-17 Trust & Stewardship Board Governance & Strategy CORE Compliance v2.9.7

Value-for-Money (VfM) framework and public reporting

This criterion assesses whether the organization measures, analyzes, and publicly reports on its value-for-money metrics. Value-for-money (VfM) metrics demonstrate how efficiently and effectively the organization uses its resources to achieve outcomes, encompassing economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity (the 4Es). In line with Trustees’ duty to report on public benefit (Charities Act 2011), the essential trustee duty to manage resources responsibly (CC3), and the Islamic principle of Amānah (stewardship), VfM reporting should evidence prudent use of entrusted funds to maximise outcomes fairly and transparently.

Assessment Questions
  1. How does the organization define, measure, and analyze Value-for-Money across its key programs and operations (4Es)?
  2. Provide your VfM methodology note (definitions, cost allocation rules, coverage %, and reconciliation to the SoFA). What changed since last year and why?
  3. Show one decision where you accepted higher costs to protect safeguarding, quality, or equity, and how this was documented and approved.
  4. How, and to whom, does the organization report its VfM performance to demonstrate accountability and stewardship of resources?
  5. What processes are in place to review, benchmark, and continuously improve the organization's VfM framework and performance?
Evidence Requirements
  • The organization's documented VfM framework or policy.
  • Management reports or dashboards showing VfM metrics and trends.
  • Minutes from board or management meetings where VfM data was used for decision-making.
  • Publicly available annual reports containing the VfM publication pack (dashboard, narrative, reconciliation).
  • Evidence of benchmarking activities against peer organizations or sector data.
  • Reports from independent audits or reviews of VfM performance (for higher levels).
Scoring Guidelines
LevelRatingDescription
5 5/5 Full publication pack with open data, independent/peer review, and documented year-on-year improvements (e.g., specific actions taken).
4 4/5 Balanced 4Es metrics, board review at least twice/year, published summary in Trustees’ Report, and at least one benchmark comparison.
3 3/5 Internal 3Es (Economy, Efficiency, Effectiveness) metrics covering >70% of spend, with documented management actions.
2 2/5 Basic VfM metrics (e.g., cost per unit) tracked internally on an ad-hoc basis.
1 1/5 No meaningful VfM metrics or reporting.

Related Criteria

TS-BGS-01 Trustee board meetings are scheduled, quorate, and minuted TS-BGS-02 Trustees set direction & strategy TS-BGS-03 Trustees meet statutory reporting TS-BGS-04 Finance represented in decisions TS-BGS-05 Annual board and executive skills-gap analysis conducted and actioned
Version
2.9.7 2025-11-05

Discussion (1)

Administrator 2026-03-07 11:07:43.697238

📋 **Version updated: 1.0.0 → 2.9.7** **Changes:** Updated islamic_references from mizan-297.json

Sign in to post a comment.

Back to Criteria