PSA 6: Increase voluntary and community
engagement, especially amongst those at risk of social exclusion
Scope
This target applies to England only. The target has
two elements:
(a) increasing voluntary activity by individuals
at risk of social exclusion; and
(b) increasing the voluntary and community sector
contribution to delivering public services.
The target will have been met if both elements
are achieved.
Element 1: Voluntary activity by individuals
at risk of social exclusion
Definitions and Measurement Systems
Voluntary activity by individuals includes both informal
volunteering (giving unpaid help to an individual who is not a
member of the family) and formal volunteering (giving unpaid help
to groups, clubs or organisations).
Social exclusion is a shorthand term for what can
happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked
problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor
housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown.
This target covers people with no qualifications,
minority ethnic groups and people with
disabilities. Evidence from the Home Office Citizenship
Survey shows that these are the groups, amongst the socially excluded,
who are least likely to volunteer. However the Government will
pay particular attention to young people in these groups.
The Citizenship Survey is used to measure levels
of voluntary activity by groups at risk of social exclusion. Volunteering
is measured as those who have volunteered at least once a month
in the 12 months prior to interview. The Citizenship Survey has
a nationally representative sample of 15,000 people aged 16 and
over living in private households in England and Wales. Results
from the Citizenship Survey will be published on the RDS web page
and will be accompanied by a detailed technical explanation.
Baseline
The baseline period is 2001.
Success Criteria
This element of PSA 6 will have been achieved
if the voluntary activity (combining both formal and informal
volunteering) by those at risk of social exclusion is higher in
2007/08 than in the baseline year.
Element 2: the voluntary and community sector
contribution to delivering public services
Definitions and Measurement Systems
Voluntary and community sector is defined as organisations
carrying out community activities in their own right[56].
Public services are services wholly or partly funded by government[57].
The voluntary and community sector contribution to
public services is measured using an index from the State of the
Sector Panel Survey[58].
The index combines the following elements with each element having
equal weight:
- the median number of employees (paid members
of staff including secondees);
- median number of volunteers (people that give
time unpaid except for reimbursement of expenses); and
- median total government funding (all payments
from central government departments, their regional bodies, non
departmental public bodies, local authorities, learning and skills
councils, the European Union. Funding includes grants and via
contracts but excluding housing benefit, rate relief and goods
/ services in kind but excludes funding from the National Lottery).
The Panel contains 3,600 voluntary and community
organisations reflecting the diversity of the voluntary and community
sector. Information on Panel members' activities and resourcing
is collected after organisations have finalised their annual accounts.
Baseline
The baseline period is 2003/04, the first year the
survey ran.
Success Criteria
This element of PSA 6 will have been achieved
if the voluntary and community sector contribution to delivering
public services is higher in 2007/08 than in the baseline period.
56 It includes housing associations but excludes the
following: universities; independent or public schools; political
bodies; trade unions; religious places of worship or organisations
aimed only at the promotion of faith; organisations in Northern
Ireland, Scotland or Wales which do not operate at all in England;
international organisations which do not carry out any activities
in England; business or professional organisations, grant-making
trusts and infrastructure/umbrella organisations which do not
carry out any community activities in their own right; organisations
which are inactive. Back
57
Government includes central government departments and their associated
agencies and non-departmental public bodies; local authorities;
the National Health Service (strategic health authorities, NHS
trusts and primary care trusts); police authorities; fire authorities;
Learning and Skills Councils; European Union, but excludes the
National Lottery. Back
58
Further information about the baseline, the Panel, additional
information requirements and the frequency of published information
will be made available on the Home Office's web-site at www.homeoffice.gov.uk. Back
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