LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM RESEARCH TEAM
CURRENT PROGRAMME FOR THIRD SECTOR RESEARCH
The programme covers three themes that will support the Scottish Government's five Strategic Objectives, as follows:
1. Alignment of research evidence to government strategy
2. The localism agenda
3. Sustainable growth of the third sector
Note: The programme outlined may be subject to change, depending on Ministerial priorities.
1. The Alignment of the Evidence in Relation to Scottish Government Strategy
The main priority for Scottish Government analysts is to establish a thorough understanding of the evidence base and understand what the third sector can currently contribute to the government's purpose (especially cohesion and solidarity) and five strategic objectives.
Project A. Commissioned.
The contribution of the third sector to the government's purpose and five strategic objectives
This work will review the current evidence on the third sector in Scotland to evaluate its contribution to the Government's purpose and five strategic objectives (wealthier and fairer; smarter; greener; healthier and safer). It will identify what evidence we have on the Scottish third sector, and highlight the areas where the sector makes the largest contribution to the Government's objectives. It will also draw on international evidence to highlight potential areas for the third sector to make an impact, thereby providing an indication of the gaps in evidence and the gaps in the sector for understanding how the strategic objectives can best be met with support from the third sector.
2. Localism
A key theme of the Government's purpose is localism, in particular empowering communities and citizens to work together towards building sustainable economic growth with opportunities for all to flourish. The two projects here are specifically related to the new local landscape in which Third Sector organisations are operating.
Project B. To be commissioned.
The Opportunities and Challenges of the Concordat for the Third Sector
This work will follow third sector organisations and track how the Concordat is impacting upon them and the work they do, tracking in particular how they have responded to seizing the opportunities and addressing the challenges of the Concordat. It will also assess the perceived as well as actual impacts. The outcomes will provide evidence on the impact of the Concordat in relation to the third sector, identifying areas of good practice that can be shared with other third sector organisations, and also areas where greater support needs to be directed. Longer term, this work will also be an additional means for identifying the success level of recommendations resulting from the project, below, on the role of the third sector within community planning partnerships. The intention is for this to be a longitudinal study with a group of organisations over a period of time. This is the most robust way of understanding the range of impacts on the sector to ensure other impacts on the sector can be taken into consideration.
3. Sustainable and Strategic Growth of the Third Sector
A key role has been identified for the third sector in achieving the Scottish Government's purpose of creating a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish through sustainable economic growth. In order to realise that potential, the Scottish Government is seeking evidence on which to base strategic decisions about the best places to invest and about how to support most effectively the third sector in developing their businesses.
Project C. To be commissioned.
Evaluating the Success Factors for establishing a thriving social enterprise
Scottish Government is committed to developing the number and quality of social enterprises in Scotland, and particularly those that provide servcies to the BME community. This research will help us to understand the factors that contribute to a successful social enterprise and how these can influence investment decisions, and any specific qualities and characteristics of Social enterprises run for and by the BME community. It will first draw on evidence from SMEs to understand the success factors of standard enterprises. It will go on to classify what constitutes a successful social enterprise by focussing in-depth on a number of organisations from different sectors of both successful and less successful social enterprises, including those providing services ot the BME community. The study will also explore the extent to which access to support is a success factor and highlight any shortcomings in the current provision. The case studies will establish whether it is feasible to draw up any success factors and, if so, compare these with the documented success factors of SMEs to identify distinctive aspects of social enterprise success. The research will then be used to establish the viability of undertaking a follow up study to test the success factors at a larger scale.