Government-commissioned research has found that larger charities win most public procurement contracts delivered by the sector, with small and micro organisations “almost entirely absent” from the market.
The UK Data Spine’s figures, published today, form the first comprehensive register of all 771,000 civil society organisations, including 194,000 charities, in the UK.
Researchers found that, in civil society, public procurement is “dominated by large and major organisations”.
“Among charities, those with incomes between £1m and £100m account for nearly two-thirds of contracts and an even larger share of funding,” the analysis reads.
“The pattern is similar for CICs, where large and major CICs account for over 60% of contracts.
“Micro [income below £10,000] and small [£10,000 to £100,000] organisations of all types are almost entirely absent from procurement markets.”
This is despite most charities in the UK being small or micro and just 5.5% having incomes above £1m per year.
The UK Data Spine also found that civil society organisations were unevenly distributed across the country, with a higher concentration of charities in less deprived areas.
Benefits of charities delivering public services
The government has also published research today on the impact of public services being delivered by civil society organisations.
Researchers found that evidence suggests that civil society organisations “bring distinctive qualities” to public service delivery that differentiate them from public and private sector provision.
These qualities include community embeddedness, flexibility and responsiveness, and trust and independence.
They found that civil society organisations worked well as intermediaries between people and statutory services, as they can build trust in wider public systems while providing navigation support through complex service landscapes.
Researchers also found that the public were more open to charities delivering some public services, such as employment and mental health support, than businesses.
However, it identified some data gaps and recommended further research to support the implementation of the Civil Society Covenant.
