1 Engaging with the voluntary sector
1. Whitehall lacks expertise in working with the
voluntary sector, limiting the role which the voluntary sector
can play in delivering public services. Progress has been made
in developing a better and more professional relationship but
there has been only a fragmented approach to developing the capacity
of departmental staffs to work with the sector. The Home Office
saw a need to move from a situation where the voluntary sector
was often brought in at short notice to meet an urgent requirement,
to a situation where longer term plans to engage the voluntary
sector in the delivery of public services were made at the outset.[2]
2. In its evidence, the Home Office agreed that the
voluntary sector could undertake some activities more effectively
than the public or the private sector. The pressure for efficiency
and effectiveness in performance management should encourage the
use of the voluntary sector where the sector provided best value
for money. Civil servants might be unsure how to engage with the
voluntary sector but similar difficulties existed within the sector
itself, with staff who were not always best placed to sell services
to government. Incentives for engaging with the voluntary sector
were unclear, and the Home Office was working with the National
School of Government and the Office of Government Commerce to
develop training courses to enhance skills and understanding.
Recent "Compact Plus" proposals by the Home Office would
introduce a Compact Commissioner who should have powers to accredit
or disaccredit departments which did not follow Compact[3]
principles.[4]
3. The Home Office has a target to increase the role
of the sector in public services by 5% by 2006. It agreed that
this target was not a very demanding or exacting one. Central
government spending with the sector was about £2.75 billion
in the past year, which although a significant sum for the voluntary
sector, was only some 0.6% of central government spending. There
was a need for a more meaningful and stretching target. After
2006, a new target was likely to signal further upward movement
in spending with the sector, but the Home Office would be consulting
within government and the sector before recommending any new target.
The Home Office had not set a quantified target for its own spending
with the voluntary sector but instead had looked to identify key
areas where the voluntary sector could take a larger role.[5]
4. Spending with the sector was on an upward trend
but had fluctuated significantly over the years (Figure 1).
Expenditure had peaked in the 1990s but had then fallen back quite
sharply. It was rising slowly now. The Home Office was aiming
to improve the quality of data on total spending, the type of
funding and where it was going. The Home Office had established
a State of the Sector Panel of 4,500 voluntary organisations and
was asking them at regular intervals about their experience of
doing business with government, about funding and about relationships.[6]Figure
1: Central government funding has increased in recent years
5. The Department agreed that it might have been
easier for large charities to move ahead more quickly in service
provision than smaller ones. To address this issue, funds were
being made available through FutureBuilders[7]
to build the capacity of voluntary sector organisations to deliver
public services. The proportion of funds going to smaller organisations
and to multi-ethnic minority organisations was monitored. The
bureaucracy surrounding applications for funding and the monitoring
of expenditure and activity imposed subsequently might also deter
new entrants. The Home Office believed, however, that there was
good growth amongst new organisations. The FutureBuilders Fund
provided assistance to organisations to work up new ideas for
service delivery to promote to government.[8]
6. Citizens in some areas may suffer because there
are not enough charities bidding for funds on their behalf. The
voluntary sector may favour middle class communities over the
poorest and ethnic communities. The Home Office agreed that one
of the hardest challenges was engaging voluntary organisations
within poorer areas but it was trying to increase the level of
volunteering from those areas in response. The Department's data
on voluntary sector funding by geographic area and on a demographic
basis was limited. It was often easiest to find volunteers in
better off areas, and so it was important that departments considered
whether the spread of funding within programmes needed to be adjusted
to better reflect need.[9]
2 Qq 5, 29, 45 Back
3
An understanding between government and the voluntary sector on
how they should work together, agreed in 1998. Back
4
Qq 11, 13 Back
5
Qq 16, 18, 32-40, 59-60 Back
6
Qq 46-47, 51-52 Back
7
A government investment fund established in 2004, which uses mostly
loan finance to increase the role that the voluntary sector plays
in public service delivery. Back
8
Qq 50, 107 Back
9
Qq 55, 97-100 Back
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