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One-fifth of charities happy with statutory bodies

Finance | Tania Mason | 8 Jul 2008

A pilot survey of third sector satisfaction with local authorities has shown that just 22 per cent rate the support they are given by their local statutory bodies as ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’.

The pilot was carried out by the Office of the Third Sector as a precursor to a much larger satisfaction survey of 97,000 third sector organisations in England, which is to be conducted this year and again in 2010.

A total of 1,478 third sector organisations were sent the pilot survey, and 703 responded. The survey was conducted between November 2007 and January 2008.

Results suggested that around 55 per cent of those surveyed would take part in the larger study, and that of those, less than a quarter would answer ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ to the question ‘How do the local statutory bodies in your area influence your organisation’s success?’

This question will be asked to help the government measure how local authorities are performing against the new national indicator 7 - ‘creating an environment for a thriving third sector’. NI 7 is one of 198 new national indicators that all top-tier local authority areas will be measured on from this year.

The question was disclosed in a briefing paper (pictured) issued by the OTS to those local authorities that have opted to make NI 7 a priority.

But the National Coalition for Independent Action, whose strapline is ‘Dissent protects democracy’, has dismissed the survey as a waste of time and money.

In its latest newsletter, the Coalition says the idea “merely extends the suffocating web of bureaucratic targets which are sapping the life out of local democracy”.

It claims the survey will exclude local community groups because it is restricted to registered charities, incorporated bodies, and housing associations – though it does accept that the OTS would be happy for umbrella bodies such as NAVCA and Bassac to collect survey results from member organisations that don’t meet the main criteria.

According to the OTS guidance, the 97,000 organisations will be asked to use a five-point scale to answer the question. The performance of the local authorities will be measured according to the percentage of survey respondents that reply ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’.

“A pilot survey produced a baseline figure of 22 per cent,” the newsletter said. “Seems to us like quite a lot of public money to tell us not very much.”

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Who's Who: Tania Mason