Still little impact by Positive Steps

Nearly all voluntary and community groups have heard of Positive Steps, the government’s strategy for supporting the sector, but well over half (57%) are still not aware of how it is being implemented.

A panel survey by the NICVA Research Unit found that the proportion of organisations believing that the strategy has had limited or no impact on how their organisation operates or interacts with government has risen from 61% to 76% in the last year.

Views on funding

Of the groups that have received or renegotiated funding in the last year, only 18% said it was over a longer time frame (7-10 years) but this is 10 points higher than a year ago; 81% said their funding did not include full costs, as envisaged by Positive Steps.

One respondent commented:

There has been an increase of nearly 7% since last year in funding based on evidence of quality standards and a 12% rise in groups reporting that their funding arrangements are now more a contract than grant aid; 56% now report this to be the case.

Only 4.5% in the latest panel survey said the Modernisation Fund would significantly help promote modernisation and change and 34.3% believed it would help to some extent. Less than 10% believe the Community Investment Fund has strengthened community development activity and 25% feel it has had limited impact or none at all.

Departmental leads

There has been some improvement in departments taking the lead on cross-cutting policy matters but the figures are still very low. In 2006, for example, 10.5% of respondents reported a departmental lead in the delivery of rural services and this has now increased to 17%. In the case of services for people with disabilities, the number of organisations reporting a departmental lead has risen from 2% to 10%.

On the other hand, there has been a drop in reported departmental leads on policy about marginalised young people and in participation of women in marginalised and disadvantaged communities.

Margaret Ritchie – an effective champion for the sector

Last time round, 18% of organisations rated Direct Rule Minister David Hanson as an effective champion for the voluntary and community sector. In the latest survey many replies indicated that it was too soon to make a judgment but nearly 28% believe that in the short time she has been Social Development Minister, Margaret Ritchie has been an effective champion.

Shifting attitudes to Postive Steps

Several attitude questions about Positive Steps that were included in the survey show a shift in opinions since last year.

In 2006 nearly 55% of respondents did not believe the strategy places thevoluntary and community sector in an equal partnership with government; this year the figure has risen to 70%.

There has been a huge change on another issue. In 2006, 73.3% of organisations agreed or agreed strongly that Positive Steps will change for the better how other funders outside of government interact with the sector. This has dropped dramatically to 13.2%.

Yet, the voluntary and community sector places great store by the strategy. Last year, 31% of respondents felt it had the potential to create a more efficient and effective sector. This has jumped to 72.3%.

A big improvement emerged in another issue. In 2006, 76.4% of respondents believed that the focus of Positive Steps was wrong and only reflected the needs of the government. This has decreased to 16.7% in 2007.