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Research finds little evidence that public services run by third sector are better for users
By Ruth Stokes, Third Sector Online, 28 July 2010
Third Sector Research Centre says commissioners still have doubts about the ability of voluntary organisations to run services
There is little independent evidence to suggest that public services commissioned from voluntary sector organisations are better for users, according to a review by the Third Sector Research Centre.
The review, which examined 48 pieces of research published between 2004 and 2010, says that evidence on the impact of third sector service delivery is scarce and commissioners continue to have doubts about the capacity of third sector organisations to take on contracts.
Rob Macmillan, author of the report and research fellow at the University of Birmingham, said more attention had been paid to how organisations could navigate and cope with the demands of commissioning than how to improve the services they provide to their users.
The review says many sources had noted the need for a cultural shift among organisations to increase their understanding of new processes, build relationships with commissioners and frame bids around what purchasers wanted to buy rather than what organisations wanted to deliver.
The research also demonstrated an "information deficit" on each side, with commissioners lacking knowledge of third sector providers and voluntary sector organisations not knowing enough about commissioning practices.
Ralph Michell, head of policy at chief executives body Acevo, said: "We know lots of third sector organisations could deliver a better service, and they’re often frustrated in their attempts to deliver their services by poor commissioning.
"We are looking forward to the centre producing forward-looking research that addresses some of the issues that stand in the way of some third sector organisations delivering."
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Chris Triggs, 29 July 2010, 11:37
I wonder whether the extent to which the apparent lack of impact is more a result of voluntary sector organisations failing to adequately evidence outcomes \(as distinct from output) of their services? Traditionally the sector has been strong at showing output - although this is perhaps to do with the fact that it is central to most funding applications reports - but there is a very important distinction between simply showing the number of people coming through the door of a service and well-evidenced, qualitative analysis that shows the real impact of a service. And surely it's in the interest of an organisation to know that it is working effectively with it's client group as opposed to just working with them?
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Brian Craven, 29 July 2010, 11:45
It can be helpful to have academic research that back's up practical experience ........... but is anyone suprised by this result?
The solution isn't structural, it's about people Usually about an individual or small group who determine - no matter where they work - that things not only can, but WILL be done well.
HMG's difficulty is you can't legislate for quality.
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Naomi Landau, 29 July 2010, 11:55
To clarify, the review by TSRC did not look at whether the third sector provides better public services. It looked at evidence surrounding the third sector's experience of public service delivery in the last 10 years.
The review highlights many concerns that have been raised about the commissioning process, and the ability of the third sector to compete fairly in this process. It also highlights concern amongst the third sector about the effects of the commissioning process on their organisations and services. The review highlights a gap in research knowledge regarding this effect, and the vital question of whether the commissioning process has led to better services. Where there is a lack of evidence about the quality of services that the third sector delivers, this is because the research has not been done.
see the research here: http://www.tsrc.ac.uk/Research/ServiceDeliverySD/Publicservicesevidencereview/tabid/712/Default.aspx
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Steve Kerr, 29 July 2010, 13:21
This headline and article can \(and no doubt will...) easily be misinterpreted.
To quote the introduction of the report:
"It is important to note that the review focused on the processes involved, and experiences of the third sector, in public service delivery, rather than the outcomes for service users."
"It notes but does not assess the debate about whether the third sector provides better public services and outcomes for service users."
Actually it's incredible that no-one has looked at this issue over the last decade.
Perhaps the nearest we have is the 2007 NCC report on user experience of VCS delivery. But even that is 3 years old now.
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k hONEYOFRD, 29 July 2010, 15:21
Third sector organisation often have underdeveloped and underfunded management and administrative capacity that hampers both developing quality of services and effective demonstration of outcomes.
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George Arkless, 29 July 2010, 18:06
As what was studied was research it is less to do with how individual organisations report themselves.
The last independant research on tenant management organisations was 2002, and showed that most organisations provided services comparable to the top 25% of councils and more often then not provided much better services than the local authority.
Trouble is its not the sort of message you want going out when your busy putting down council estates and destroying the concept of LA as landlords - that tenants are capable of running much better services.
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