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‘Is the third sector so special? What is it worth?

Angus McCabe: Third Sector Research Centre, University of Birmingham

NCVO21 November 2012

A HEALTH WARNING

• The views expressed in the following session are not necessarily those of

• The Third Sector Research Centre

• The Presenter

A CRY FOR HELP

• Is there a Counsellor in the house?

• Psychodynamic?• Primal Scream?• CBT?• Solution Focused Therapy

WHAT’S ‘THE SECTOR’ WORTH?

• Easy…….• Income - £170.4 billion (Civil Society) - £36.7

billion VCS• £228.4 billion (Civil Society) - £90.2 billion VCS• Workforce of 765,000• Growth in number of organisations• Almost continuous growth over the last two

decades…..till 2011

A MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION…?

• What’s it worth…..to whom?• The Market?• Policy Makers?• Commissioners?• Communities?• Service Users?• Itself/Its Members?

A RHETORIC OF WORTH

• Flexibility• Responsiveness• Inclusion• Innovation • Surfacing new needs• Connected to communities etc etc• Is this more than – or just – rhetoric?

VALUE OR VALUES?

• Again – easy• Cost Benefit Analysis• Social Audit and Accounting• Social Return in Investment• Global Reporting Initiative• Triple Bottom Lines• Added Value etc• A purely monetarised value?

VALUES STATEMENTS

• “If the third sector is about something more than ‘not for profit’ we need to define it in terms other than its relationship to money. Values are the key”

VALUES STATEMENT 2

• “Empowering people, Pursuing equality, Making voices heard, Transforming lives, Being responsible, Finding fulfilment, Doing a good job, Generating public wealth......These values inspire people to work and volunteer in the third sector. Separately these values are present in the public and private sectors. However, the way in which third sector organisations combine and prioritise these values is unique”. P7 (Blake et al: 2006)

• Blake, G., Robinson, D. and Smerdon, M. (2006) Living Values: a report encouraging boldness in third sector organisations, London: Community Links

VALUES…REALLY?

• ‘Our sector stands to make a greater contribution to the Government’s Open Public services agenda. Crucially we need the opportunities to do this. National and local commissioners need more encouragement to engage with the sector.’

• Mitigating the impact of Welfare reform– Locality, NAVCA etc – to HM Treasury 19/10/12

BUT GOING BACK….• An NCVO Scenario for 2012 (NCVO April 2003);• Voluntary organisations employing 1 million people, same as

public sector (actually – NHS)• Delivering a range of public services under contract to

national, regional, local government and other public agencies, e.g. social work, health, education, probation, community renewal, social enterprise

• Voluntary organisations having inspection and performance monitored by a government appointed regulator (Housing Associations model)

• Being recompensed fully for full costs under contracts• Salary levels to reflect new roles

A SQUEEZE MIDDLE?

• Mark Lever (CEO National Autistic Society) said charities were getting larger and were having to compete with the private sector. "The added value and hidden benefits of community-generated services get squashed out by price," he said. "Those that can compete and win contracts are seen by the public as being like businesses.“

• (Third sector: 16/11/12)

ALTERNATIVES…..?

• For community organisations ‘there is the challenge of imagination – to define a new purpose and to establish an agenda fit for that purpose. Community organisations need to change their primary roles from being a partner of the state or from being a servant of the state. Their primary role for the next period will inevitably be oppositional to the dominant policy positions being pursued by the state.’ Niall Crowley: TSRC Discussion Paper

ALTERNATIVES…..?

NCIA: We are not an arm of the state….

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE…“I don’t want to predict what the future, say in five years, will look like for voluntary never mind community groups. There may be a leaner but more efficient and effective sector, a more entrepreneurial and business like sector – or just a leaner one. What we will see played out in some form is a profound change in the relationships between people, government and the sector.” (Development Agency Interview)

AND FINALLY…..

• Learning from the past – but looking to the future….where next?

• Over to you….