Closing space for civil society. Lack of vision of political leadership. Post-conflict / divided society. Group ii) Absence of political will to drive voluntary sector agenda forward even under devolution (contrast relative dynamism in Scotland). Lack of interest in departments outside of DfC and division of responsibilities with social enterprise in DOE. Competition /audit-focused regime and procurement facing voluntary sector, suffocating creativity and innovation. Absence of core funding and associated lack of independence in the sector. Some tension between social enterprises specifically and trade unions, which should be natural sectoral allies, over union’s difficulty in thinking beyond conventional private-sector and public-sector organisations. Group iii) Data dissemination to be unified (different departments using different data). – Whose data (is acceptable). Can we generate our own data? Re. infrastructure independence issues: why is infrastructure there and does it end – up in effect gatekeeping for e.g. in areas of leaning disabilities. – Relationships convenience not evidence-led but what needs done generally about – – compliance no challenge function. – Strong narrative within sector that is self-gratifying, evidence is debatable. What is the public perception of voluntary sector? What is the impact of the voluntary sector and what difference does it make. Better story to tell - its not just about delivering a better service than the government it – has to be more than that be a critical voice. Are we conforming?, are we losing our – creativity? Innovation is vital. Identifying impact of volunteering activities on ground that function with little to no funding. Is size and complexity of the sector being recognised, especially smaller (community) groups. Why so little focus on Brexit? Outcomes focused Programme for Government. Group iv) Civil servants’ and politicians’ lack of understanding. Procurement processes, bureaucracy and grant provision short term-ism. – (Negative) impact of this on relationships. Whole Government collaboration no mechanism for this… no statutory duty to – cross departments. Community planning not seen as an issue.
Closing space for civil society. Lack of vision of political leadership. Post-conflict / divided society. Group ii) Absence of political will to drive voluntary sector agenda forward even under devolution (contrast relative dynamism in Scotland). Lack of interest in departments outside of DfC and division of responsibilities with social enterprise in DOE. Competition /audit-focused regime and procurement facing voluntary sector, suffocating creativity and innovation. Absence of core funding and associated lack of independence in the sector. Some tension between social enterprises specifically and trade unions, which should be natural sectoral allies, over union’s difficulty in thinking beyond conventional private-sector and public-sector organisations. Group iii) Data dissemination – to be unified (different departments using different data). Whose data (is acceptable). Can we generate our own data? Re. infrastructure – independence issues: why is infrastructure there and does it end up in effect gatekeeping – for e.g. in areas of leaning disabilities. Relationships – convenience not evidence-led but what needs done – generally about compliance – no challenge function. Strong narrative within sector that is self-gratifying, evidence is debatable. What is the public perception of voluntary sector? What is the impact of the voluntary sector and what difference does it make. Better story to tell - its not just about delivering a better service than the government – it has to be more than that – be a critical voice. Are we conforming?, are we losing our creativity? Innovation is vital. Identifying impact of volunteering activities on ground that function with little to no funding. Is size and complexity of the sector being recognised, especially smaller (community) groups. Why so little focus on Brexit? Outcomes focused Programme for Government. Group iv) Civil servants’ and politicians’ lack of understanding. Procurement processes, bureaucracy and grant provision – short term-ism. (Negative) impact of this on relationships. Whole Government collaboration – no mechanism for this… no statutory duty to cross departments. Community planning not seen as an issue.
VCSEFuturesNICVA062017.docx