Taking forward total place: engaging the third sector and civic society in service delivery
Professor Tony Chapman, Dr Peter van der Graaf, Dr Victoria Bell, Graeme Oram, CEO Five Lamps Organisations, Allison Aguis, CEO Catalyst.
Background
This project was funded by Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and the Institute for Local Governance.
The underlying principles of total place include a desire to secure improved social outcomes at less cost by achieving:
- greater collaboration between relevant agencies
- a deeper engagement with citizens and communities
- a genuine focus on place.
Third Sector Development Unit was commissioned to deliver the fourth workshop in the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and Institute for Local Governance Total Place: Research to Action project. The half day workshop in the series considered what scope there is for third sector involvement in new place-based approaches to service delivery.
The workshop drew on intensive longitudinal social scientific study on the structure and dynamics of the third sector in North East England by a research team at Teesside and provides direct inputs from third sector practitioners.
Aims
Prior to the event, participants received an evidence-based discussion paper on current practices and perceptions on the role of the third sector in the region, together with analysis of third sector involvement in place based budgeting elsewhere.
The paper presented a position statement on where there is potential for third sector involvement in this developing approach and what the limits of involvement may be for third sector organisations, with particular characteristics and values. The paper considered potential barriers to third sector involvement including prevalent attitudes and ways of working in public sector organisations, the problems faced within the sector itself and how these challenges can be addressed on a constructive partnership basis in new forms of service delivery.
The half day workshop provided a mix of research-informed analysis, debate and practical workshops on approaches which may be taken to involve the third sector in place based community budgeting and associated service delivery. To focus the workshop thematically, attention was concentrated on the issue of supporting families and young people facing multiple challenges.
What makes the third sector tick? A presentation by Professor Tony Chapman
This session considered both the opportunities for and limitations of third sector involvement in the design and delivery of place-based, budgeting and service delivery. It considered how the sector can adopt a positive and proactive approach with its public sector partners to this innovative and emerging form of service delivery. The talk demonstrated that whole third sector involvement in all aspects of the commissioning cycle may be unnecessary and that organisations which occupy particular places in the sector may be best able to meet particular needs.
Workshop one - where do and where should third sector organisations sit in a place based community budget commissioning cycle?
The debates were facilitated by Allison Aguis, Graeme Oram and Tony Chapman. The debate was premised upon the idea that different kinds of organisation have different understanding, skills and interests in participating in emerging models of community based budgeting.
Workshop two - what needs to be done in terms of partnership decision making, partnership delivery and measuring social impact, and which third sector organisations need to be in at which stage?
Based on the debate in the previous workshop – each group in this session addressed a particular service delivery issue. The purpose was to apply the principles agreed in the first workshop to practical examples – including tackling anti-social behaviour and resettlement of offenders released from prison.
Taking Forward Total Place - engaging the third sector in service delivery (pdf - 381kb)
Findings
A final report based on the findings from the seminars will be published in June 2011 by the Institute for Local Governance.
