18 July 2008
Third sector minister Phil Hope has agreed with an influential select committee that more robust evidence is required to prove whether voluntary bodies deliver public services in more distinctive ways than the public sector.
Last week, the Commons public administration select committee concluded that there was 'no compelling evidence' to support the government's claim that the third sector can add value in unique ways.
Commenting on the report, Hope said contracting with the third sector worked. 'We know that third sector organisations have been driving social change for centuries and I don't think anyone disputes that the record of impact should be invested in,' he said on July 14. But he conceded that a better evidence base was needed. While there were many third sector organisations working with so-called hard-to-reach groups, such as drug users and
ex-offenders, there was a need to pull the evidence together.
Last month the government announced that it was investing £5m in a Third Sector Research Centre, led by the University of Birmingham, which will be dedicated to analysing the impact of the sector's activities.
The minister was speaking at a training session convened by the Office of the Third Sector with the Improvement and Development Agency, which aimed to instil a better understanding of the third sector's potential among public service commissioners.
Hope acknowledged that every organisation was different.
He also agreed with the committee that an 'intelligent commissioning' approach was the right one to take, whereby the third sector is involved only where this fitted local needs.
PFjul2008
