1. NCIA Inquiry into the Future of Voluntary Services 2015
September 2015 – a rendition of the findings of our Inquiry into the Future of Voluntary Services can be found in the Summer 2015 edition of Soundings: A journal of politics and culture – Issue 60 – Austerity and Dissent. A PDF version of this article is to be found here. For subscription enquires to Soundings please visit their website – http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/journals/soundings/contents.html.
Inquiry reports now available can be downloaded below.
‘Fight or Flight: Voluntary Services in 2015’ – In a blistering critique of the threats posed to the values, work and freedom of the sector, this report brings together the material gathered as part of the Inquiry and presents our overall conclusions about the dismal picture of voluntary services in 2015 and asks ‘what can be done?’
If you would like more information about the Inquiry or would like to contribute your views to it, please contact Andy Benson andy@independentaction.net
‘The ideological Context’ by Dexter Whitfield examines the changes brought about by the commitment of successive governments to the principles and practice of neo-liberalism, explains what neo-liberalism is, how this has reshaped the environment in which the UK voluntary and community sector now operates and its impact on voluntary agencies.
“Ordinary Glory: Big Surprise not Big Society” by Mike Aiken looks at the impact of the changed environment on small volunteer-based community groups, shows how the influence of contracting and marketisation has damaged all levels of voluntary action but describes how, with a little encouragement, these groups and their activities might discover the seeds of a positive future.
‘Outsourcing and the Voluntary Sector’ by Laird Ryan documents the Coalition Government’s drive to privatise public services and evidences the damage being wrought by competition and marketisation, shows where the money is going, and uncovers the growing trend of Voluntary Services as sub-contractors to profit-hungry corporations like Serco and G4S.
“The Devil that has come amongst us”: the impact of commissioning and procurement practices’ by Andy Benson looks in detail at the procurement and commissioning regimes through which this progressive enslavement of voluntary groups has been achieved, and the ways this has diminished interest and capacity to take their mandate from users and communities and speak out against injustice.
‘The Rise and Influence of Social enterprise, Social Investment and Public Service Mutuals’ by Les Huckfield documents how New Labour and Coalition governments, within a framework of neo-liberal thinking, have introduced business concepts and quasi markets as a way of re-engineering voluntary services. The report shows how, using ‘capacity building’, and with the support of sector leadership bodies, the voluntary services industry has been reined in as ‘governable terrrain’ and led to adopt private sector assumptions and ways of working.
‘Does Size Matter Paper 1’ and ‘Does Size Matter Paper 2′ by Linda Milbourne and Ursula Murray examine the changing ecology of the voluntary sector, paying particular attention to the emerging differences – and fortunes – of small and large voluntary services groups. Paper 1 looks at the trends in income distribution across the sector and the evidence from area-based studies on the extent to which size is a factor in influencing experiences and approaches. Paper 2, drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 voluntary groups, explores the specific experiences of competition between larger and smaller providers in specific service areas. The paper concludes by setting out the practical and ethical dilemmas for groups caught up in this turbulent environment.
Voluntary Services and Campaigning in Austerity UK: Saying less and Doing More by Mike Aiken examines whether voluntary agencies providing services to disadvantaged groups are also campaigning for those people’s rights. How far are they presenting evidence – gathered from their day-to-day work with people facing poverty and destitution – to policy makers and the general public? Are they confident, able and assertive in ‘speaking truth to power?’
‘Inquiry into the Future of Voluntary Services Support for Black and Minority Ethnic Older People’ by Valerie Lipman demonstrates that little has changed for BAME older people over the last 30 years in terms of inequality, access to services and unmet needs, as mainstream bodies persist in neglecting this group of people. This has created a situation in which the contribution of small BAME groups is crucial but these groups are undermined by cuts in spending and further marginalisation.
‘Refugee and Migrant Group Action on Xenophobia and Public Policy’ by Lisa Rodan looks at the response of VSGs working with migrants and refugees to rising xenophobia within public policy and concludes that co-option and bureaucratisation has decreased solidarity amongst potentially radical factions within the voluntary sector concerned to defend the position of refugees and migrants.
‘The impact of contracting and commissioning on volunteers and volunteering in Voluntary Services Groups’ by Colin Rochester examines contemporary volunteering, showing how contracting and commissioning have accelerated the rise of the ‘workplace model’ and the formalisation of volunteer management that “threatens the untamed and often maverick expression of free will that defines the authentic spirit of the volunteering impulse”. This view of volunteering as unpaid labour serves “to separate and distance the work of VSGs from those volunteers and voluntary groups that occupy the world of activism.”
‘More for Less – public sector outsourcing and cuts to spending: the impact on voluntary sector workplace conditions and the role of the Trades Unions’ by Rosie Walker and Frances Sullivan looks at the effects of outsourcing and cuts to funding on those who are paid to work in VSGs, and on the role and response of the trades unions, exposing the damage being done to the voluntary sector workforce by the ‘race to the bottom’. This includes “…lowering pay at the bottom while increasing it significantly at the top, the casualisation of contracts, the exploitation of weaker employment rights and heavy-handed managerialism that frowns upon union activity, political activism of any kind and even, in some cases, on professionalism.”
‘The position and role of national infrastructure bodies concerning the cuts to and privatisation of public services’ by Lis Pritchard and Andy Benson looks at the record of six national infrastructure organisations (ACEVO, NAVCA, NCVO, Locality, Clinks and Homeless Link) to show how they have implicitly or explicitly supported the outsourcing of public services. Most have committed resources to encouraging and supporting voluntary groups to bid for public services contracts.
‘Homes for radical action: The position and role of local umbrella groups’ by Penny Waterhouse This report shows how many local CVSs and other infrastructure groups have actively assisted with the outsourcing and privatisation programme, despite mounting evidence that their own local voluntary groups are losing out to national charities and private sector contractors. Voice is given to the frustration of many frontline workers and others who want to resist these changes, gives examples of alternatives that are emerging and sets out an agenda for change.
Struggling to Survive… Independently: Stories from the Frontline of Voluntary Services by Bernard Davies. This paper presents five case studies of locally-based VSGs struggling to survive in the environment of cuts to funding and moves to the use of contracting approaches by public bodies. They illustrate the difficulties and dilemmas experienced, and some of the responses being adopted, by groups operating within this environment.
‘Lenin’s Useful Idiots? Voluntary Action and Public Service Reform in Northern Ireland’ by Nick Acheson reviews recent developments in relations between voluntary agencies and the devolved administration, showing how the familiar pressures of cuts, privatisation, reliance on state funding, fashions for impact measurement and self censorship have played out against the background of the province’s distinctive history. It reveals “a profound sense both of discomfort and disempowerment among many, reflecting a loss of belief in their capacity to effect change in line with mission…. It is difficult to identify sources of potential resistance.”
‘What is happening in Scotland’ by Nicola Gunn written before the independence referendum this report offers a brief review of the current context on which future decisions and directions will be built.
2. NCIA Inquiry into Activism and Dissent 2013
The NCIA Inquiry which took place in 2012/13 and examined where resistance and alternatives to injustice lie; and where the homes for such action can be found.
Here We Stand: NCIA’s Inquiry into Activism and Dissent (2013) Full report
Here We Stand: NCIA’s Inquiry into Activism and Dissent (2013) Summary report
3. Leaflets and position papers
Please email info@independentaction.net if you would like copies of any of our leaflets or papers to give out at events.
26 good reasons to oppose commissioning the Voluntary Sector (2012) PDF, 2 pages
Time to fight for independence (2011) PDF, 2 pages
Short introduction to independent action and NCIA.
Managing for independence (2011) PDF, 4 pages
Tips on appropriate management styles, including how to get talking, make power visible, organise and act, and get help when you need it.
Voluntary action under threat: what privatisation means for charities and community groups (2011)
A survey of evidence about the role of commissioning, localism and ‘big society’ in the government’s wider agenda of privatisation.
Summary (PDF, 10 pages)
Full paper (PDF, 26 pages)
Big market: how localism and the ‘big society’ damage independent voluntary action (2011) PDF, 4 pages
A short policy paper to help us analyse what the government means by ‘big society’ and localism and how these threaten independent action.
Voluntary action under threat (2011) PDF, 4 pages
A short leaflet that presents the key evidence about the government’s agenda of privatisation and the role played by commissioning, localism and ‘big society’.
Localism: Threat or Opportunity? (2012) PDF, 29 pages
NCIA and the Trades Union Congress. A series of short essays from 12 contributors expressing a range of critical views about the intentions and likely consequences of the Government’s Localism Act.
4. Resources
The NCIA Independence Audit (2011) PDF, 6 pages
The table we use to conduct an audit of an organisation’s independence: for use yourself, or to guide you when we come to do an audit with you.
How to do the NCIA Independence Audit (2011) PDF, 5 pages
Guidelines about doing an NCIA Independence Audit, either by yourself or with us.
Talking about independent action (2011) PDF, 2 pages
Notes to help bloggers and speakers prepare.
5. NCIA research, case studies and event reports
Localism in action? A small community project’s experience of a local authority’s tendering process (2011)
NCIA
Case study of how bidding for a contract to run a local estate’s youth provision put an unnecessary strain on a small community organisation and contributed to delaying the project by 12 months.
http://www.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/08/YW-commissioning-casestudy.pdf
Short-term funding to meet external targets (2011)
NCIA
Case study of what happened when a youth work project accepted funding to work with young people in ‘hotspots’ for crime and anti-social behaviour and tried to evaluate their work in terms of what worked and what didn’t rather than ticking boxes for the youth service.
archive.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/02/YW-targets-casestudy.pdf
From partner to butler: Defending young people’s participation from local authority take-over (2011)
NCIA
This shows how a council’s narrow vision of voluntary action limited young people’s participation in local democracy and describes some of the tactics a youth council used to keep their voice.
http://www.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/08/YW-voice-casestudy.pdf
From merger to managerialism (2011)
NCIA
This case study details lessons learned from a merger between a small youth work organisation and an organisation with a more hierarchical management style. It offers practical advice about how to hang on to the principles of community-based work with young people and advises caution when considering merging.
http://www.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/08/YW-merger-casestudy.pdf
The local state and voluntary action in West Sussex (2010)
Adur Voluntary Action, NCIA
Qualitative research with 16 voluntary organisations found that short-term government policies and commissioning undermined independent action and damaged the local political process, making it more difficult to respond to the needs of local people. Policies which may be appropriate to commission public services are not suitable for strengthening community life, locally-rooted services, and cohesion.
Summary: archive.independentaction.net/?page_id=6223
Full report: archive.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2010/06/West-Sussex-report-final.pdf
Standing up for ourselves: supporting independent action amongst local advice agencies (2010)
NCIA
Report on the state of independent action in the UK advice sector, based on work done in 2009-10 by NCIA and Advice UK with local advice services to safeguard and nurture independent advice services. The report highlights lessons learnt in four places as well as the joint working relationship between NCIA and Advice UK.
Full report: archive.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/04/NCIAAuk_joint_work_report.pdf
Summary: archive.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/06/NCIA_fighting_for_our_rights_commentary_nov_10.pdf
Gaining Power: Challenges Facing Activists (2012)
NCIA and NatCAN. Report of an event in July 2012 aimed at offering an opportunity for activists to discuss how to spread the knowledge and skills needed to challenge damaging local and national decisions. An audience of voluntary sector, public sector and community volunteers came together to share their passion, skills and views.
Is competition killing us? (2012) PDF, 18 pages
NCIA and LVSC. Notes from our May 29th event with London Voluntary Service Council (LVSC) about commissioning and its impact on the work and independence of voluntary groups.