OTS u-turn sees partner assessments disclosed – and generally positive

Finance | Tania Mason | 14 Sep 2009

The Office of the Third has changed its mind and agreed to publish the assessment reports for its 11 most highly-funded strategic partners, as requested by Charity News Alert under the Freedom of Information Act.

Initially the OTS refused to disclose the reports, saying the public benefit in keeping them secret outweighed the public benefit in making them available. But after Charity News Alert requested an internal review of this decision, it agreed last week to provide copies. No reason was given as to the change of heart.

In a letter accompanying the reports, OTS deputy director Helen Stephenson (pictured) wrote: “Sue Gray, director of propriety and ethics, has now completed her review of the handling of your request.

“Having considered the information held, the review has found that the public interest falls in favour of releasing copies of the most recent assessment reports.”

The strategic funding to be provided to the 11 partners over the three years from 2008 to 2011 totals more than £26m, though all grants for 2010/11 are subject to parliamentary approval.

V is the most highly-funded partner – the core strategic grant component of its £117m overall grant settlement is £2.1m for 2008/9 and £2.4m in 2009/10. The strategic grant for 2010/11 is still awaiting approval.

After v, Volunteering England, Community Service Volunteers, the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, and the NCVO receive the most. They are followed by the Social Enterprise Coalition, Timebank, Youthnet, NAVCA, the National Youth Agency and BTCV.

The assessment reports, which cover the year from April 2008 to March 2009, are generally positive about the organisations’ progress in achieving their aims.

Click here to see summaries of the reports for v, Volunteering England and CSV.

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