HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : The Role of the Voluntary Sector in Public Service Delivery [October 2001]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 12 October 2001.

Better communication and cooperation between central and local government agencies and the voluntary and community sector has a key role to play in improving public service delivery, Financial Secretary Paul Boateng said today.

Announcing the terms of reference (see link below) of a cross cutting review of the role of the voluntary sector in public service delivery, Mr Boateng said:

“The voluntary and community sector already makes a significant and extremely valuable contribution to the delivery of high quality public services. We now need to explore further ways in which central and local Government can work more effectively with the voluntary sector on public service delivery to ensure that, together, we are delivering high quality services.

The cross cutting review is an important part of that process. I very much hope that the widest possible range of individuals and organisations working in this area and benefiting from the work being done will let us know their views on how this initiative can be taken forward to develop new and better ways to work together.”

The terms of reference for the review, which Mr Boateng will chair, are:

“To examine the relationship between the voluntary sector and the Government in public service delivery, taking account of the key role that the sector can play in strengthening civil society and building capacity in local communities. The review will do this by:

i.  Mapping the extent and the variety of means by which the voluntary sector is already involved in overseeing and delivering public services;

ii. Examining best practice in effective partnership between the voluntary sector and the public sector, suggesting practical ways in which the principles in the Compact can be applied in the delivery of public services;

iii.Drawing common lessons to guide the public sector in working in partnership with the voluntary sector;

iv.Establishing whether and how barriers to voluntary sector involvement, and lack of capacity, might be overcome to promote successful partnership with the public sector and how the Government might be able to assist to that end.”

The cross cutting review, one of seven announced by Chief Secretary Andrew Smith on 25 June, is an important initial phase of the wider Spending Review 2002 and aims to report early next year.

There are important links between this cross cutting review and work in other Government Departments:

• the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) review: Modernising the Legal and Regulatory Framework for Charities and the Voluntary Sector;
• the Regional Co-ordination Unit Review of Regeneration Funding for Voluntary Sector and Community Groups
• ongoing work within the Active Communities Unit, including the current consultation on the funding of Community Groups.

The cross cutting review will build further on the principles set out in the Compact on relations between Government and the voluntary and community sector, including the continued independence of the sector.

Organisations and individuals wishing to register an interest in the review should email using the link below.