Payment by results wiki

This page provides updates, research, support and myth-busting around 'payment by results' (PbR) and the implications for voluntary and community sector (VCS) delivery of public services.

What is 'payment by results'?

Payment by results is seen my many as ‘the way the world is going’ when it comes to funding the provision of public welfare services. Programmes are operating across public services, including the DWP Work Programme, Ministry of Justice prison and rehabilitation services, and acute and mental health services in the National Health Service.

‘Payment by results’ (PbR) is the practice of paying providers for delivering services after agreed results have been achieved.

This principle of paying for quality of performance, rather than for activity, is one NCVO agrees with. Yet the ability of providers to perform is decided by a range of factors, many of which they do not control. PbR programmes can therefore present an unbalanced and untenable risk for providers who have to fund services for a duration without any guarantee of payment.

How stable PbR can prove to be in the complex area of achieving welfare outcomes is still in question. It is clear that success for all is dependent on effective ‘results’ frameworks and fair ‘tariff’ systems that reward those results. For the VCS, access to capital funding to run services paid for in arrears is the third substantial issue.