New research from the Office of National Statistics has found there is no significant difference in outcomes between care homes or early years providers from the voluntary sector compared with private or public providers.

But NCVO, which helped with the research, say the findings reflect a focus on direct outcomes of services, which do not capture the full value or indirect outcomes for service users.

The research, which was a £2m, three-year project funded by the Treasury, looked at Measuring Outcomes for Public Service Users (MOPSU). It studied the quality and outcomes of adult social care services and early years education, and an analysis of the voluntary sector’s role in delivering public services.

The research found the voluntary sector received £12.8bn of funding from government in 2007/08, which accounted for approximately 36 per cent of voluntary sector total income, about the same proportion of income received from individuals, which was 37 per cent in 2007/08. Total income from government sources were shown to have increased year-on-year since 2000/01.

Further government funding accounts for over 70 per cent of the income received by voluntary organisations within the employment and training sector. Charities working in law and advocacy, education, housing and social services also received more than half of their income from government. Nearly three–quarters of government funding to the voluntary sector was in the form of contracts.

However, the study found there was no significant difference in outcomes between care homes and early year providers in different sectors.

Jenny Clark, research manager at NCVO, said the findings reflected the way the research was conducted:

“The research was conducted using direct outcomes which were quantifiable. Indirect outcomes were not considered, for example the benefit of chatting to a user. NCVO have lobbied for some time on using full value measurements that focus on the benefit of service delivery not just to the individual end user but on the wider social value created as well."

Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, added that the commissoning process needed to change in order to enable better capture of impact: “Effective commissioning must focus on outcomes.  Only then will we achieve the high-quality, value-for-money public services that people deserve. 

"All too often, statutory funding for frontline services adopts narrow performance measurement models.  It should be no surprise that if you define, commission and manage services in the same way you always have, you will get the same outcomes, regardless of who is delivering them.

He continued: “Commissioning public service delivery by outcomes gives voluntary and community organisations the opportunity to demonstrate the full value they give to individuals and communities.  It ensures that hard-pressed public funding is used to best effect in the wider public interest.”