Civil society organisations can have a “key role” in protecting public services by taking an active involvement in the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Total Place project, according to a report on the 13 pilot schemes.

The project takes a new approach to public service delivery by bringing together local stakeholders to assess what the government’s total spend is in that area, and determine how to “join up” local services and deliver them better.

The report reveals that the approach will now be extended across all English regions in an attempt to maintain public services while the government tackles the national deficit.

It singles out as the pilots in Birmingham and Gateshead as effective examples of voluntary sector involvement.

A high-level officials’ group is being chaired by Lord Michael Bichard (pictured) which meets every month.

Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, praised the scheme but added: “The pilot projects show a mixed picture with some authorities failing to work with the sector at all.

“Voluntary organisations play a crucial role not only in delivering services but in developing successful policies and advocating and campaigning for disadvantaged people.

“It is vital that future projects get to grips with what our sector can offer and respect all three roles, something we will be working hard to ensure.”

Speaking in the forthcoming April issue of Charity Finance, minister for the third sector Angela Smith cited the scheme as an example of Labour successfully engaging with localism.

“They were done quite quickly so third sector involvement was better in some areas than in others, but where the sector has been involved it has worked really well.”