Delivering public services in the mixed economy of welfare: putting research into practice
This seven month project (September 2007 – March 2008) was funded under the ESRC ‘Impact Grants’ scheme. Its aim was to promote practical learning from research on the theme of public service delivery by the voluntary and community sector (VCS). Irene Hardill (Nottingham Trent University) led the project with Sue Baines (MMU), John Ramsey (Age Concern England) and Rob Wilson (Newcastle University). We were supported by a 24 strong reference group of experts from the VSC and the public sector. We used case studies to explore the range of ways in which VCS organisations contribute to care for older people by delivering services for state agencies. There were four project workshops in which representatives of the VCS and public sector commissioners participated together.
Project Events and Outputs
Supporting Volunteers:East Midlands Regional Workshop, Nottingham, January 14th 2008. Many VCS organisations see volunteers as their lifeblood. This workshop explored implications for volunteers when the VCS is drawn into public service delivery.
Exploring ‘Social Clauses’: North East Regional workshop, Newcastle upon Tyne, January 24th 2008. ‘Social clauses’ within contracts are intended to allow commissioners to consider broader social and community objectives as well as the costs and benefits of specific services. This workshop was an opportunity to learn about the possibilities of "social clauses"
Two further ‘Social Clauses’ workshops were held in May 2008 in response to high levels of interest. You can download guidance on facilitating a workshop to support learning on ‘Social Clauses’ here: Reusable learning materials.
Examples of potential commissioning situations can be used in group exercises:
Review of literature (see summary)
Case studies that stakeholders thought were successful and likely to offer useful learning material for others. There were five cases based in each of two English regions, the North East and the East Midlands. See examples of the Case Studies. You can read more about the case studies and literature review in the paper
‘How can voluntary organizations help to transform care? Articulating social value’.
Discussion of the concepts of ‘cost and value’ in the context of public service delivery
Dissemination
ESRC Festival of Social Science, Manchester March 7th 2008
The team obtained additional funding from the ESRC Festival of Social Science, an annual week long programme of events held across the UK. The purpose of the festival is to communicate information about the social sciences and how social science impacts on people’s lives. The half day workshop ‘Being betters partners’ shared lessons learned from the project with participants in the North West of England. See:
- Festival of Social Science, 2008, 7th March
- Partnering in a new arena presentation and also the
- Festival summary report
Finding Solutions with Older Customers for today's & tomorrow's older people - Peepul Centre, Leicester, 17th March 2008 Irene Hardill and Sue Baines led a workshop at this regional conference organised by Local Government East Midlands
Transforming elderly care at local, national and transnational levels International conference held at the Danish National Centre for Social Research (SFI), Copenhagen, 26-28 June 2008. Susan Baines presented a paper co-authored with Rob Wilson and Irene Hardill. They drew upon the project case studies and workshop events to explore claims and counter claims about VCS capacity to transform care. Slides available to download here.
ESRC Research Methods Festival 2008 3rd July – Session 52 Public Engagement. At this session invited speakers including Irene Hardill discussed if public engagement should be embedded into social science research methodologies.
View the presentation ‘Reflections on the challenges of user led research’. (Links to an external website)
NCVO/ VSSN Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference 9th / 10th September 2008, University of Warwick. This annual conference is for researchers from the voluntary sector and from academia to share their ideas and research findings. Sue Baines presented a paper based on the team’s reflections about the VCS / public sector interactions they observed during he project.
View 'They just don't understand us'.
Rob Wilson was a keynote speaker at the 5th Annual External Funding Conference North East (Newcastle, 20th September 2007) and the National External Funding Conference. View the External Funding Presentation.
Tools and other resources
Members of the project team have participated in a number of other research activities involving VCS partners. Here is a short selection with links to outputs.
Evaluation of public services delivered by local Age concerns. Irene Hardill and Professor Peter Dwyer of Nottingham Trent University were commissioned by Age Concern East Midlands, Age Concern West Midlands, Age Concern Eastern Region and Age Concern, England, to evaluate of the impact on quality of life and well-being of older people aged 70+, living in very rural areas, of community-based services and activities, to inform future service development and planning. See also the village services overview document.
The Inclusive Volunteering Toolkit was produced by Irene Hardill and and Susan Baines for an earlier ESRC IMPACT project entitled ‘Broadening the Base of the Volunteer Workforce’. The toolkit includes practical suggestions for resourcing, recruiting and retaining volunteers.
Volunteering, Self-help, and Citizenship in later Life (by Mabel Lie, Susan Baines and Jane Wheelock) is a report based on collaborative research by Age Concern Newcastle and Newcastle University, funded by the Big Lottery. Chapter 9 includes volunteers’ perspectives on their changing roles and support needs in the light of the organisation's involvement in service delivery. The chapter raises specific implications for the management and support of volunteers in Age Concern Newcastle, but many issues are of generic interest to all volunteer-using organisations.
