The
voluntary and community sector is being asked to embark upon
an ambitious project to profile local group activity, which
could lead to the most accurate locality-based perspective
of the sector’s activities that has yet been produced.
We want local voluntary groups to participate in this exercise
which requires both time and effort but, we believe, will
ultimately produce enormous benefits.
Locally-focused profiles of voluntary sector activity will
assist voluntary groups and local public bodies to develop
a more coherent approach to service development and delivery,
making better use of all the skills held within our sector.
At present, groups are often unsure about which other voluntary
and community organisations provide similar or complementary
services – profiling will show who these are, their
range of services and their geographic coverage.
But comprehensive local profiles of the sector could have
many other benefits for voluntary and community groups. Despite
the government’s commitment to support the sector and
for greater public service provision through voluntary and
community groups, local statutory bodies – particularly
local authorities – often fail to put in place the policies
and resources required to deliver those commitments. The profiles
should make clear in which geographic and policy areas statutory
bodies are not providing sufficient support for the sector.
We believe that statutory bodies often understate the real
contribution of the voluntary and community sector. Profiling
should provide a realistic assessment of that contribution
and the added value produced by the sector in each area. This
should both assist organisations to protect existing funding
sources when these are threatened, and identify where new
funding opportunities exist. As a result of this exercise,
many groups will be able to illustrate just how much they
contribute to the local quality of life and local service
delivery, and use this to make the case for greater development
support and resources.
For the statutory sector, the benefits of supporting this
process are equally clear-cut. The government’s move
towards Local Area Agreements and policy implementation through
partnerships and voluntary sector organisations creates demands
on statutory bodies. Yet the statutory sector struggles to
fully comprehend the strength of local voluntary organisations,
their capacity and activities.
At present, bodies such as Safer and Stronger Communities’
partnerships are assessed on outcomes that are dependent on
the voluntary sector. Yet these outcomes are notoriously difficult
to measure to everyone’s satisfaction.
The new profiling exercise will help provide the baseline
information for the assessments that are increasingly required
by statutory organisations. That is why we advise local groups
to work with the statutory sector to build local profiles
and to seek the necessary financial resources from local authorities
and other public bodies to enable the exercise to take place.
For local profiles to be produced it will be necessary for
groups to work together. Advice on how to carry out the profiling
is included in the guide we are publishing*.
The profiling exercise is led by the National Association
for Voluntary and Community Action – NAVCA – (the
new name for the National Association of Councils for Voluntary
Service – NACVS – from 14 June 2006) and supported
by a range of organisations: the Audit Commission, Capacity
Builders, the Charities Aid Foundation, the Community Development
Foundation, GuideStar UK, the Home Office, the Improvement
and Development Agency, the Local Government Association,
the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and Wales
Council for Voluntary Action.
VCS profiling also contributes to a broader Audit Commission
project – Area Profiles – that provides a rich
and comprehensive view of the quality of life of each English
area and the quality of local public services. An understanding
of the local service provision by the voluntary and community
sector was always seen as central to this project and our
profiling exercise will enable this to be realised. Bringing
the work to this point has involved two years of piloting
in several local areas, supported by local councils for voluntary
service and our supporting national organisations.
While Area Profiles provide comprehensive pictures of each
locality, they are only able to show part of the total picture
without a clear view of the local voluntary sector. We hope
that this project will not only provide an even fuller view
of localities, but also demonstrate very clearly to the statutory
sector that voluntary and community groups play a central
role in contributing to the well-being of local areas.
Neil Cleeveley is director of information and policy
at the National Association for Voluntary and Community
Action
* Getting to know your local voluntary and community
sector – A Guide to Area Profiles will be available
from 14th June on the NAVCA website, www.navca.org.uk,
and on the Audit Commission’s Area Profiles website,
www.audit-commission.gov.uk/areaprofiles.
While Area Profiles are, at present, restricted to England,
the VCS profiling can be applied in any part of Britain.
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