The report, Building Blocks, found that it was likely to be increasingly difficult for STOs to raise funds from local authorities, primary care trusts and other statutory funders due to those funders having to prove that funding is leading to improvements in public services. It found that CVSs seem to have lost their sense of purpose and focus, and that they were in fact the most difficult of the STOs to fund.

The report also found a lack of clarity about where appropriate STO support for different front-line groups at different stages of development could be found, and that small groups felt their voices were not being heard with funders deciding what they needed.

The report suggested, among other things, that funding should increasingly be directed to frontline groups, which can subsequently purchase the help they need from the source which can best provide it.

Maggie Baxter, chair of City Parochial Foundation, said: “The report identifies a number of issues and provides a ‘warts and all’ view of the sector. The authors have provided a range of constructive recommendations which provide a programme for action – not just by the STOs themselves but by funders, third-tier organisations, the Charity Commission and Capacity Builders.”

To view the report visit www.cityparochial.org.uk/cpf/publications