Review background
The Government launched the third sector review to look at the role of
third sector organisations in social and economic regeneration.
The aim of the review was to work with the third sector to set out a longer
term vision for the sector, marking a new phase in the relationship between
the sector and the Government.
The Office of the Third Sector and HM Treasury's Charity and Third Sector Finance
Unit jointly carried out the review as part of the 2007 Comprehensive
Spending Review.
Consultation
The review was overseen by a cross–departmental ministerial group, and
advised by a third sector advisory group drawn from organisations across
the sector.
The first phase of the review involved the largest ever consultation with
the sector – involving over 90 regional events and more than 2,000 people
representing over 1,000 organisations across the country. The Government
listened and learnt from the views it heard.
Interim findings
An interim report was published in December 2006:
Gordon Brown, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out the findings
from the consultation in his Pre–Budget Report and announced:
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a commitment to make three–year funding for third sector organisations
the norm rather than the exception
-
the creation of a new Community Assets Fund worth £30 million
-
the allocation of £6.5m as part of the Safer and Stronger Communities
Fund
The interim report also set out five key themes for the second stage:
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enabling voice and campaigning
-
strengthening communities
-
transforming public services
-
encouraging social enterprise
-
supporting the conditions for a healthy third sector
Consultation responses
For the second phase of the review, respondents were asked to complete a
questionnaire (now closed), and five seminars on each of the key themes
were held across the country with experts in the sector. A summary of the
consultation responses was published in June 2007:
Discussion papers
The Office of the Third Sector also commissioned a number of background
papers during the third sector review, to stimulate discussion of some of
the themes of the review. These are available in the research and
statistics section of this site:
The final review was published on 24 July 2007:
