« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
1. Introduction
1.1 What we were asked to do
Rocket Science was commissioned by the Scottish Executive, on behalf of the Strategic Funding Review ( SFR) partners (the Scottish Executive, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations ( SCVO) and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( CoSLA), to undertake a review of the support services available to the voluntary sector focussing substantially on five key areas:
- organisational development
- workforce development
- technical support
- income generation 1
- lobbying and networking support
The aims of the review were to identify:
- What services are provided and where, in order to assess gaps and overlaps/duplications in provision
- How voluntary organisations access support and whether this needs to be made easier, through, for example, creating tools through which voluntary organisations can identify and prioritise their needs
- If, and how, support might be rationalised or at least delivered more effectively
- If current support adds value to the recipients
- How public funds can be used most efficiently and how non-financial public support can be best targeted
In addition there were three broad objectives. These were to:
- Establish the support needs of the voluntary sector and whether these needs are currently understood and being met by existing suppliers
- Map out the existing range of support services geographically, thematically and by function, so that an assessment can be made of gaps and overlaps in order to create new ways of delivering services and to cost the implications of this
- Assess the effectiveness of public funding in order to see who should deliver publicly funded support services in the future and how it can be used more effectively and efficiently
The review set out to assess, not simply the current situation, but what needs to change on the part of both those providing, and those receiving, support and how this change can be achieved. We intended to:
- Produce a baseline of what the sector understands its needs to be
- Provide the basis for the development of an effective mechanism for delivering support at national and local level
- Provide a tool to enable the Scottish Executive, SCVO and CoSLA to measure progress in successfully meeting the sector's needs
Rocket Science hopes that the review will make a significant contribution towards reaching a position where good quality provision is accessible to all (including marginalised groups), where public funds are used efficiently and where value for money is provided by those supplying services.
1.2 What we have done
The review was carried out between April and June 2006 and the methodology comprised:
Stage 1 - Inception meeting
- Meeting held with the Research Advisory Group (made up of the SFR partners as well as research expertise from within the Scottish Executive). At this meeting: the aims of the review were clarified; documents to be explored at stage two were identified; dissemination of information to encourage the involvement of voluntary organisations was discussed; potential interviewees were identified; and the timescales and parameters for the review were set.
Stage 2 - Desk research
- Research to examine previous work germane to this review and to inform the development of the online survey and focus group / interview aide memoires - this culminated in the production of an inception report that provided:
- Definitions used throughout the review
- Background to the review
- Overview of the Scottish voluntary sector
- Current policies ( UK and Scotland)
- What is known about the needs of the sector
- Overview of the infrastructure of support provision
- Issues identified by the existing body of work
- Identification of questions to be explored in the review
Stage 3 - Website and communication
- Development of a website to provide a vehicle for ongoing commentary on progress and information about opportunities for involvement in the review. Communication with potential participants in the Review was disseminated via a range of sources. The website provided an immediate opportunity to sign up for various aspects of the Review.
Stage 4 - Research with recipients of support
- An electronic survey was developed informed by the inception report (see stage 2). This was designed to investigate:
- current access to support services
- levels of satisfaction with support;
- relative priority of support needs
- and identification of gaps in support
- A link to the survey was advertised via a range of communication vehicles including Third Force News and the Councils for Voluntary Service ( CVS) network. A mailing of around 70 paper copies was also sent to smaller voluntary organisations with limited IT facilities and hard copies were made available on request. A total of 137 questionnaires were completed including 10 partially completed (more than two-thirds).
- 13 focus groups were held across Scotland including one via video conferencing with voluntary organisations in Orkney. The focus group timetable also offered opportunities for video-conference links with other islands but these were not taken up. Focus groups were augmented by telephone interviews in areas where there were difficulties in arranging a meeting. 7 telephone interviews were conducted with organisations with a turnover of less than £25,000. A total of 72 people participated in focus groups which provided rich, qualitative information across the areas covered by the electronic survey.
Stage 5 - research with providers of support
- Telephone interviews were conducted with senior staff from 26 organisations that provide support to the voluntary sector. This included voluntary sector agencies such as Councils for Voluntary Service ( CVS) and intermediaries as well as non voluntary sector providers, for example statutory agencies and government departments.
- Focus groups were held with groupings of support providers including: the CVS National Liaison Group, national intermediaries and the Volunteer Centre Network.
Stage 6 - information analysis
- The information gathered through the survey, focus groups and interviews was collated and was then analysed by the whole Rocket Science research team. Data from focus groups with recipients of support was analysed using the 'Framework' model that allows for analysis thematically and by individual cases. This model was also used for telephone interviews with providers of support.
- A 'first cut' analysis of recipient perspectives was presented to the Research Advisory group.
Stage 7 - Stakeholder workshop
- A workshop was held on 28 th June to feed back initial findings and conclusions to the SFR implementation group and provided an opportunity for input into the final report.
Stage 8 - Final report
A draft report was produced for the Research Advisory Group to comment on. Necessary changes were made and a final report was produced.
Issues re: participant involvement in Review
This methodology was designed to provide a variety of media participation. It was also designed to meet the tight deadline outlined in the commission. SCVO's extensive networks were used to disseminate information about this Review, with the ultimate aim of engaging participants. Their communication began in March and further information was included in Third Force News, Third Force E-news ( TFe), Electronic CVS News ( ECVS) and Info Bulleting to Intermediaries network (for onward transmission to members). The research team also sent information directly to a number of networks.
It became apparent that information about the Review was not permeating voluntary organisations across Scotland. We postponed a number of focus groups (to ensure increased participation) and contacted the majority of CVS by telephone to seek further support and additional contact with local organisations. We also contacted a number of small organisations to conduct telephone interviews as we wanted to ensure their qualitative views were included. This was facilitated by a CVS and a local intermediary organisation providing generic support. Other organisations were asked to support this type of contact but were unable to assist in the timescale available. We also created a shorter questionnaire which we personally administered to participants at 'The Gathering'.
Despite our efforts participation levels were lower than expected. However, discussion with SFR partners at Stage 6 (reporting 'first cut' of recipients' views) determined that these findings passed the 'common sense test' and that a greater number of participants was unlikely to produce different findings.
1.3 Structure of this report
This report is structured as follows:
- Section two outlines the context for this review including discussion of the Strategic Funding Review ( SFR), an overview of the voluntary sector in Scotland and brief outlines of a number of key policy agendas.
- Section three presents detailed findings of the research with recipients of support from focus groups and the online survey. This includes discussion of voluntary organisations' support needs, the type of support used, sources of support and views and experience of the current support infrastructure. It also highlights particular issues for small voluntary organisations.
- Section four outlines the views of providers of support.
- Section five presents our conclusions based on the findings of the review.
- Section six makes a series of recommendations informed by the findings and conclusions of this review. These are intended to assist the strategic funding partners in considering possible next steps.
« Previous | Contents | Next »