Press Release - Building the Capacity of the Third
Sector
6 February 2009
A National Audit Office report has concluded that two programmes
aimed at building capacity in the third sector have had a positive
impact on frontline third sector organisations but have not yet
demonstrated value for money. Both have suffered from
administrative weaknesses and a lack of initial targets against
which the effectiveness of the programmes could be measured.
ChangeUp and Futurebuilders were launched in 2004 and together will
cost £446 million. Responsibility for both of the programmes passed
to the Cabinet Office in 2006.
ChangeUp has created stronger partnerships among those
organisations that support frontline third sector bodies. While the
impact varies, better support has helped some frontline
organisations to work more efficiently, spending less time on
administration, manage staff and volunteers more effectively, and
improve the service to their users. Doubts remain, however, about
the sustainability of some of the support services the programme
has stimulated.
Weaknesses in programme management include delays in
implementing ChangeUp that created a rush to spend public money
quickly, with some being wasted. As an untested approach to
capacity building, outcome measures should have been set to
evaluate the success of ChangeUp. But no targets for outcomes were
established and no effective evaluation of the impact of the
programme has taken place. Capacitybuilders, which has managed the
programme since 2006, is taking action to address these
problems.
Futurebuilders has brought about positive change, enabling
organisations to improve governance, strategies and premises and
this in turn has helped some recipients of Futurebuilders loans to
win contracts to deliver public services. But this experimental
programme also encountered early difficulties.
The first management contract which ended in March 2008 did not
focus sufficiently on the fund’s objectives, and some loan
recipients were slow to take up and apply the funding. Furthermore,
not all organisations properly understood how the fund worked, with
some organisations receiving mixed messages about whether their
loans would have to be repaid. The second management contract
contains targets that are more clearly aligned with the objectives
of the programme and the fund manager is working to improve the
rate at which funds are disbursed and used by third sector
bodies.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
"Frontline third sector organisations provide important
services to the general public. ChangeUp has made good headway in
improving support for these organisations while Futurebuilders
loans have improved the potential of some to win public service
contracts. But basic flaws in the administration of both programmes
have reduced their beneficial impact to date. Value for money will
depend on whether the steps now being taken successfully address
these problems."
Notes for Editors:
- The third sector encompasses non-governmental organisations
which are value-driven and not-for-profit and which aim to further
social, environmental or cultural objectives.
- ChangeUp is a £231 million programme for improving support
services for frontline third sector organisations. It has been
managed by Capacitybuilders since 2006, a non-departmental public
body established to administer the programme. It does not fund
frontline organisations directly but supports them through local or
regional partnerships.
- Futurebuilders is an experimental £215 million investment fund,
which primarily loans funds to organisations to be repaid with
interest.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard
copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Tim Burr, is the head of
the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He and the
NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 08/09
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