A1.3 Appraisals use up resources. It is therefore important to judge the level of input appropriate to any particular appraisal. The general rule is that the resources to be devoted to an appraisal should be proportionate with the scale and importance of the associated objectives and resource consequences.
A1.4 The effort that should go into an appraisal and the detail to be considered are a matter of judgement. When the right questions are asked the appropriate effort is often easy to see. Small expenditures generally justify less detailed appraisal than large expenditures, but small items can add up to substantial totals, and small expenditures can have big effects, and the principles of appraisal still apply. These same principles apply also to evaluation.
A1.5 In deciding the amount of effort required for an appraisal, it is appropriate to consider not only the costs and benefits to the public sector, but also those to the other sectors of the economy, since appraisal is about encouraging the best use of the nation's resources as a whole. The importance of a project to the national economy may be disproportionate to the public sector costs and benefits arising. For example, a small public grant to a private firm or voluntary body may represent only a small proportion of the total resource cost of the project; or a small pilot project may be undertaken in anticipation of a major new programme.