National Research Papers
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All Inclusive? Third sector involvement in regional and sub-regional policymaking (IPPR North Research) - NEW
Published by the Institute for Public Policy Research and written by Michael Johnson and Katie Schmuecker
Regions and sub-regions play an important, if often unseen, role in policymaking. Influential decisions linked to regeneration, planning, housing, economic development and the allocation of European funding are all taken at these levels by a complex web of quangos and partnerships.
Both the Government and the opposition have emphasised the part that the third sector should play in influencing policymakers generally. This report considers the third sector's role as a key stakeholder in decision-making at the regional and sub-regional level, with a particular focus on economic development. It paints a broad-brush picture of engagement between policymakers and the third sector, depicting some of the challenges and opportunities. It concludes with a set of practical recommendations, both for the third sector and for the public sector, for more effective engagement.
The publication is FREE and can be downloaded by clicking on this link
Demonstrating the difference infrastructure organisations make
Charities Evaluation Services launch their latest research into the ability of infrastructure organisations to demonstrate the difference their work makes.
The Office of the Third Sector has published a series of reports analysing data from the State of the Sector Panel survey.
http://digbig.com/4yecp or http://www.cabinetoffice.gov. uk/thirdsector
National Survey of Third Sector Organisations
The Office of the Third Sector has published some initial results from the survey of almost 50,000 third sector organisations carried out towards the end of last year.
First results show that 58% of those who had direct dealings with local government bodies said that they had a positive or very positive effect on their success. However, over half of all respondents (51%) said they felt public sector bodies had no overall influence on their success, meaning public sector bodies have more to do to improve contact and support to their local third sector.
Visit the National Survey web site
LSN Publication - "It's a communication jungle out there... A guide to communicating with post-16 education and training"
For everybody whose job involves communication, the importance of plain English cannot be underestimated.
Government departments and the agencies working with them need people to take an interest in the information they give out and to be able to understand it. Otherwise why bother doing it? Sadly, post-16 education and training is often accused of having a language all of its own, riddled with jargon, policy-speak and acronyms.
This research report investigates how government departments and agencies communicate with post-16 education and training organisations, and how those working in it perceive the communications. In making recommendations our aim is not to criticise - this is very much a guidance document. We hope it will be a starting point for improving the quality and clarity of communication throughout our sector.
The publication can be downloaded from the LSN web site - if you are not already registered with them, registration is free.
Better together: improving consultation with the Third Sector
The primary audience for this publication is public servants, to help them understand the third sector and guide them towards a successful and mutually beneficial way of engaging with the third sector in policy making. Other audiences that may benefit from the document include third sector organisations, politicians and academics with an interest in the relationship between government and the third sector.
The document is divided into two parts: a research report and a practical handbook. The intention is for the two documents to complement each other, with the research report providing the contextual background to the practical guidance given in the handbook.
The document can be downloaded by clicking on this link.
Last updated 13 August 2009
