A report examined the funding relationship between the state and the voluntary sector. It considered 16 different themes, including grants and contracts, social enterprise, and expenditure by central government departments.
Source: Jenny Clark, Joy Dobbs, David Kane and Karl Wilding, The State and the Voluntary Sector: Recent trends in government funding and public sector delivery, National Council for Voluntary Organisations (0800 279 8798)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs said that two government programmes designed to improve the capacity of the third sector – ChangeUp and Futurebuilders – had both made some impact: but it was unacceptable that these 'significant and costly' programmes had been established without setting proper targets against which their performance could be measured.
Source: Building the Capacity of the Third Sector, Thirty-seventh Report (Session 2008-09), HC 436, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release | New Start report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report said that voluntary and community organizations working with black young people affected by crime were struggling with financial uncertainty and 'conflicting' government agendas.
Source: Helen Mills, Policy, Purpose and Pragmatism: Dilemmas for voluntary and community organisations working with black young people affected by crime, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies/King's College London (020 7848 1688)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report summarized the findings of a survey of spending by central government departments and their agencies/non-departmental public bodies on voluntary and community organizations for the years 2004-05 and 2005-06. Spending on all voluntary and community organizations barely increased between 2003-04 and 2004-05, but it increased substantially in 2005-06.
Source: Estimates of Central Government Expenditure on Voluntary and Community Organisations, 2004-05 to 2005-06, Office of the Third Sector/Cabinet Office (020 7276 6400)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that charities that lost millions of pounds when the Icelandic banking system collapsed should get a government bail-out: but local authorities that suffered the same fate should not be compensated.
Source: Banking Crisis: The impact of the failure of the Icelandic banks, Fifth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 402, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | LGA press release | CAF press release | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Apr
The government announced the creation of a programme designed to strengthen the ability of charities and other third sector organizations to campaign for change. The £750,000 scheme would identify and promote innovative ways for the third sector to act as a 'strong voice' for the most disadvantaged people in society.
Source: Press release 8 April 2009, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Cabinet Office press release | BBC report | New Start report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report examined how charities had benefited from support received through the Charities Aid Foundation's grant programme, and the impact it had made. It concluded that there was no single successful approach to third sector capacity-building.
Source: Chris Cornforth, Jill Mordaunt, Mike Aiken and Shirley Otto, The Charities Aid Foundation Grant Programme: Learning from capacity building and lessons for other funders, Charities Aid Foundation (01732 520000)
Links: Report | Open University press release
Date: 2009-Mar
A think-tank report called for a grant fund to help community development finance institutions (CDFIs) support third sector organizations that provided public services.
Source: David Boyle, Stephen Spratt and Sargon Nissan, I.O.U.K.: Banking failure and how to build a fit financial sector, New Economics Foundation (020 7820 6300)
Links: Report | CAF report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
The government published an action plan for the third sector, including a support package worth £42.5 million to help volunteers, charities, and social enterprises during the economic recession.
Source: Real Help for Communities: Volunteers, charities and social enterprises, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Action plan | Cabinet Office press release | CAF press release | Compact press release | SEC press release | NICVA press release | New Start report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Feb