Hosted by: Funded by: Still Below the Radar? Community groups and activities in a Big Society MMU: International Anthony Burgess Foundation Angus McCabe 28 th October 2011 THIS SESSION What is below the radar? Current policy: all change or continuity? Responses to the new policy agenda The impact of policy on community based groups? Looking to the future: youth and community action. Assumption: youth in communities!!! STARTING POINTS 1 Perhaps one of the few remaining big mysteries in nonprofit sector research is the question of what we are missing by excluding those organisations from empirical investigations that are not easily captured in standard data sources. (Toepler: 2003 p 236) Bottom-up and community-led activities which so often bubble along under the radar are receiving new public recognition. This is in part because we are on the threshold of political change and deep economic restraint (Oppenheim et al., 2010: 2). STARTING POINTS 2 A literature review illustrating: Less research into community activity (focus on formal voluntary organisation) A fragmented literature A grey literature A literature with gaps and absences Toepler remains trueso DEFINING BELOW THE RADAR Unregistered groups (unincorporated associations not on charity of other regulatory registers) Income thresholds: under 10k (NCVO), under 25k (Thompson) under 35k (CEFET) Below other radars: local directories, web, policy, funders etc Issue of fuzzy boundaries and definitions RESEARCHING MYTHS AND REALITIES Drawing on the literature review: Are community based/BTR groups distinctive/different? A sector or diverse sectors? Charity deserts or oases of activity: mapping community activity below the radar Communities lack capacity; learning, skills and knowledge in BTR groups Who/what do we know least about? BUTSOME EARLY CONTROVERSIES The term below the radar: a deficit model of community activity? Why map/micro map? A diversion or a central activity? Expectations and contradictions: for every truth there is and equal and opposite truth POLICY CONTEXT QUIZ 1 It is my belief, after a century in which to tackle social injustice the state has had to take power to ensure social progress, that to tackle the social injustices that still remain the state will have to give away power. Who said this? And for a bonus point: When? EXPECTATIONS OF COMMUNITY You can call it liberalism. You can call it empowerment, you can call it freedom, you can call it responsibility. I call it the Big Society (Prime Minister David Cameron: 19th July 2010). Increased role in (public) service delivery: youth and enterprise More active citizens: from grey hair to brown? Asset management Reconnecting the democratic process A bastion mitigating the effects of globalisation COMMUNITY POLICY; CHANGE OR CONTINUITY: 1? Big Society, localism double devolution and Communities in Control (2008) Participatory budget setting Asset transfer The Quirk Review (2007) National Citizen Service Building Britains Future (2009) Promotion of social enterprise Social Investment Bank Big Society Bank Communities as change agents COMMUNITY POLICY; CHANGE OR CONTINUITY: 2? Continuity with a new language? From pathfinders to vanguards and kick-starts etc Freedoms rather than targets De-regulation Speed of cuts/deficit reduction strategy Change of tone from nudge to push? From community development to social action, but RESPONDING TO THE NEW POLICY ENVIRONMENT No single sector response: Enthusiasts Pragmatists Bi-polar: depending on role/positioning Reluctant followers Opponents The two Os: opportunity versus opposition THE IMPACT OF CHANGE Too early to tell but early indications: For many below the radar groups: no impact: receive no funding/not linked to governmental policy agendas Loss of small grants/pro bono support for groups with wellbeing agendas (pensioner groups, mental health support groups etc.) The multiplier effect? THE CHALLENGES OF DELIVERING THE NEW AGENDA 1 Rates of volunteering; static over last decade; concepts of a civic core Understanding motivations: good citizens, social citizens or angry citizens? Public perceptions of policy shifts Change in role at a community level: From active citizen to big citizen From influence to management and responsibility A reluctant civic core? THE CHALLENGES OF DELIVERING THE NEW AGENDA 2 Aspirations or assumptions around philanthropic or corporate support for the delivery of public services Social action versus individual rights: consumerism or citizenship? The need for a new public/civil servant: from manager to storyteller, architect or bricoleur Local freedoms versus central influence/control Disengagement: and not just youth . THE CHALLENGES OF DELIVERING THE NEW AGENDA 3 Scaling up or replication? The nature of contracting: fewer and bigger? Risk averse commissioning Barrier busting but barriers to community activity beyond government influence? Funding and the funding gap between old and new money The private sector role: not bio-diversity? Other????? FUTURE GAZING 1 Thriving community activity beyond the state: still below the radar Struggling groups offering services to the public but not (statutory) public services Increasing gap between haves and have nots in the third sector Public perception of government, local government and the formal voluntary sector Freedoms versus checks and balances Equalities FURTHER INTO THE FUTURE? I dont want to predict what the future, say in five years, will look like for voluntary never mind community groups. There may be a leaner but more efficient and effective sector, a more entrepreneurial and business like sector or just a leaner one. What we will see played out in some form is a profound change in the relationships between people, government and the sector. (Development Agency Interview) FUTURE GAZING 2;YOUTH AND COMMUNITY ACTION Demons or Debtors? Communities in crisis/feral youth? Closing and claiming spaces and places? Youth services or services for youth? The continued separation of youth and community? Hidden economies? The profile of active citizens..the long term implications of demonisation and debt?