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Facts

Office of the Third Sector

A new Office of the Third Sector

In recognition of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy Tony Blair, as Prime Minister, established the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) in May 2006. In October 2006 Campbell Robb, formerly Director of Policy for the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, was appointed as Director General of the OTS. Phil Hope is the current Minister for the Third Sector. He took over the post from Ed Miliband (now Minister for the Cabinet Office) in July 2007.

The OTS aims to build a thriving sector through its own delivery programmes, as well as acting as an advocate for the third sector across government.

Charities Act 2006

The Charities Act 2006 received Royal Assent in November 2006 and is the most significant change to charity law in over 400 years. It aims to support a dynamic and vibrant charity sector that continues to enjoy high levels of public confidence. The Charities Act reforms charity law and regulation to:

• enable charities to administer themselves more efficiently and be more effective
• improve the regulation of charity fundraising, and reduce regulation on the sector – especially for smaller charities
• provide a clear definition of charity with an emphasis on public benefit
• modernise the Charity Commission's functions and powers as regulator, increase its accountability, and preserve its independence from ministers.

Third sector public service delivery

In December 2006 the Government published ‘Partnership in Public Services: an Action Plan for Third Sector Involvement’, which will remove barriers to third sector organisations wishing to become involved in delivering and designing public services. Third sector organisations have some unique qualities such as an ability to personalise services that will compliment the strengths of public and private sector service providers to help improve public services.

Actions in the plan include a programme to train 2,000 public servants who commission public services on how to involve the third sector in services and £30 million funding for community groups to work with Local Authorities to take over management or ownership of local assets.

Social Enterprise

Social enterprises are firms founded for a social or environmental purpose, reinvesting their profits for that purpose in the company or the community, changing people's lives for the better everyday. In November 2006 the Government published the ‘Social Enterprise Action Plan: Scaling New Heights’ to help knock down barriers to growth and support the development of Social Enterprise as a mainstream business option.

The action plan is driving change in four areas:

• embedding the cultural change that is already underway, especially through inspiring the next generation to start thinking about the social impact of business
• improving advice and support available to start–up and growing social enterprises
• tackling the barriers in access to finance that restrict the growth of social enterprises
• enabling social enterprises to work effectively with government in pursuit of common goals.

Third Sector Review

A key element of the comprehensive spending review 2007 is a cross cutting review into the future role of the third sector. The Review is an opportunity to address immediate concerns and to work with the sector in implementing a long–term vision. As part of the review the Government has conducted the largest ever consultation with the sector.

As a part of this process, the Government published ‘ The future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration – interim report’ at the time of the PreBudget Report in December 2006.

Volunteering

There is now a record level of people volunteering at least once a month – £20.4m in 2005. Building on this, the OTS is working to remove the barriers that exist for people who currently struggle to volunteer, especially those in groups at risk of social exclusion. We are investing more than ever in volunteering, and will invest up to £100m over the next three years, specifically into youth volunteering.

Investing in a robust third sector

The OTS makes considerable investments in enabling the third sector to be robust and effective in all its activities.

• In April 2006, a new body called Capacitybuilders was launched to manage, at arm's length, the 10–year ChangeUp investment strategy. Capacitybuilders are currently investing £70m, on top of £80m already put in by the Government.
• A £125m Futurebuilders Fund exists to help organisations who want to increase the scale and scope of their public service delivery. It is managed by Futurebuilders England Ltd and to date 147 organisations have received investments totalling £54m.
• To support effective policy development the OTS are investing £15m over three years in organisations who have a strong voice at national level on a full range of issues affecting the sector.