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Owain Smolovic Jones
Moderator
Post 1

20 October 2016, 12:44 PM Edited by Matthew Driver on 31 October 2016, 9:56 AM

Week 5, Activity 2 Independence of the voluntary sector: what does it mean to you?

Is having an independent voluntary sector important to you? Why? Let’s debate the issue together.


Ian Jones Post 2 in reply to 1

22 November 2016, 7:38 AM

Yes it is important to have an independent voluntary sector, but what does that really mean? Can any organisation be truly independent?  There are constant pressures from funding bodies, even the RSPCA and National Trust come under pressure via the media etc. and they raise most of their funding from donations and membership fees.

We work closely with the public sector and we see it as our role to challenge and influence how services are provided. We see civil society needing to take back some control of the services that are 'delivered' top down. One could say that this citizen focused aspect is what independence is about not the politics that surrounds the structures. Even when we deliver contracts we always question the commission. We notice that when we are a junior partner it is always more difficult especially if senior partners agree with the commissioner, there has to be a trade off in order to get things done.

Stephen Elsden Post 3 in reply to 1

29 November 2016, 10:06 AM

If

I am not convinced that independence is as critically important today as it was for the sector in the past.

The U.K. Charity sector arose in the 1800s as a direct response to iniquities in society. Charities were formed to operate in areas that no other body would touch. This state of affairs continued until after the Second World War, when Public Sector organisations like the NHS came into being.

For the past 70 years many charities have had to work in an increasingly crowded marketplace, with other public sector players who all want to address social inequality. However, that shared objective often obscures mixed motivations, and in the current era of austerity, decisions are being made primarily on financial decisions, not decisions of outcomes and wider impacts for society.

The challenge is that charities cannot meet the needs of society if they work in independent isolation, but there is a need to change the statutory mindset of saving money today with little regard for the impact tomorrow. Closer working relationships should enable more meaningful challenge than simply shouting from the outside.


Genevieve Rudd Post 4 in reply to 1

13 January 2017, 8:34 PM
I believe that having an independent voluntary sector is important. My own perception of the sector has been a place that attracts innovators, carers and challengers, and that these people go on to build organisations that set to challenge the mainstream form of things through their own or collective vision. I think this can be a wonderful thing! How brilliant that we can have a sector that can both work with, benefit from and oppose standard practices - surely that's agonism in practice? It's so important, in my opinion, that the sector stays independent from the statutory or commercial sectors because that way it maintains an authentic voice, collaborations will be more meaningful, and genuine alternatives can be explored. I guess that one of the down-sides of this is that being too separate could mean that those alternative being explored may not be adopted into the mainstream because of an 'outsider' identity.

Carol Jacklin-Jarvis Post 5 in reply to 4

18 January 2017, 8:11 AM

Hi Genevieve

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the independence of the sector.  I really like the way you capture this in the phrase 'work, with, benefit from and oppose standard practices'.  In a similar vein, a research participant told me that working for a voluntary organization in close collaboration with a public sector organization was being 'outside inside something'.  Another described his role as a Janus figure as he related to his organizations' members, their public sector funder, and other voluntary organizations. 

How do these phrases resonate for other readers?  Or do you have other images that capture the experience of working in an independent sector that is also interdependent with other sectors?

Carol

John Hemming Post 6 in reply to 1

6 February 2017, 4:15 PM

It is vital to retain independence in the voluntary sector to allow unfettered challenge to issues that matter to the organisation.  That is not to say that joint ventures and collaboration cannot be a successful way forward to achieve goals but if there are not shared ethical practices, values and standards dissatisfaction must be aired and the approach challenged, no matter what the result.

The organisation I work is under contact pressure to support the Town Council and the local M.P. in their latest publicity grabbing, vanity project and it is key that our objective to best serve our local community is seen to be the benchmark against which we are judged, that all conflicts of interest are in the open and correctly managed according to good governance practice.

John 

 

Tracey Miller Post 7 in reply to 1

9 August 2017, 8:52 AM

It is definitely important to be independent within my charity, in fact, independence is one of our fundamental principles.  We aren't bound by the Government in any way.  We are totally neutral and support those in need, regardless of anything else.

Peta Wilkinson Post 8 in reply to 1

18 June 2018, 11:50 AM

Having an independent voluntary sector is very important to me as it signals the opportunity to advocate for patients and the ability to ensure that services provided are of good quality, holistic and personalised. A small proportion of my organisation's income is provided by the statutory sector which creates some opportunities and some tensions. The opportunities presented are linked to our ability to engage as a significant partners across the health and social economy. The chance to collaborate and engage around significant projects and service development around the areas most important and impactful for patients. It builds relationships and trust and offers the opportunity to engage in agonistic practice, a good example of which recently stemmed from development of a service to support assessment of people as to their end of life care needs. There was a difference of opinion as to how the service should be provided between ourselves and the statutory commissioners which was debated thoroughly and a mutually satisfactory conclusion negotiated. The negative impact is around reporting and bureaucracy as they apply the same requirements to us as the do to major providers such as the hospital.

It is not always easy to manage the tension between independence and our role as a provider of commissioned services within the health and social care economy. However, using agonistic practice will help to create an environment where issues can be debated.

Julie Dawes Post 9 in reply to 1

5 July 2018, 3:34 PM

For me it being independent in the voluntary sector means to be apolitical and to have the confidence to challenge government (both local and central).  It means to stand up for chartable causes and objectives without hint of political bias or influence.

Jane Holdsworth Post 10 in reply to 1

20 August 2018, 12:31 PM

That is so interesting reading all the comments - a few thoughts came to mind. I liked the challenge about 'What does true independence mean?'.  I think it is important to think about and acknowledge, in the way that MPS are supposed to acknowledge the conflicts of interest arising from their donors, how our funders might be influencing our activities/thinking. It's also good to have a good relationship with our commissioners so that we can be open about why we do things, our priorities and our evidence of need.

There will always be tension between us and funders/other stakeholders but like the other contributors independence to me is a fundamental cornerstone of the sector as we champion/advocate for different sections of the community or environment. It is more about how we challenge the mainstream or oppose practice in the most effective way possible