In recent years, Britain has become materially more prosperous. However increased wealth has not been accompanied by improvements in the levels of many social problems. Vast amounts spent on public services have often made little impact.
Indeed, rates of family breakdown, educational failure, economic dependency, addictions and serious personal debt remain seriously high, particularly compared to our European neighbours. Yet around the country there are countless examples of these and other social problems being successfully tackled, often by the voluntary – or third – sector.
The sector includes small community groups, social enterprises and large national charities. Third sector organisations often succeed because they are prepared to do things differently, to take risks and innovate. They excel when they can exercise more autonomy than their counterparts in the public and private sectors. The war on poverty will only be won by liberating the third sector from the incessant pressure to do the Government’s work in the Government’s way. Innovative social entrepreneurs and grassroots projects need to be trusted and equipped to find new solutions to these intractable problems. It can be done.
- Family breakdown is a major root cause of Britain’s social problems, with its direct costs estimated to be £20-24 billion a year. Yet work by the third sector in reducing anti-social behaviour through intensive family support has a 92% success rate, and can save the taxpayer over £200,000 per anti-social family.
- Third sector organisations helping people back into work are far more effective than government programmes. In some cases around 90% of clients find sustainable work, compared to only 79% of participants on the Government’s New Deal programme.
- Third sector drug rehabilitation projects, such as Phoenix Futures, have success rates of up to 90%. The social costs associated with failing to rehabilitate an addict are vastly higher. The total estimated cost of drug misuse was £12 billion in 2000, equating to £35,456 for each problem drug user.
Time for Families
Research shows that prisoners who maintain contact with their families are up to six times less likely to re-offend – yet over 70% of prisoners’ primary relationships break down due to the strains and difficulties caused by imprisonment. Time for Families is a charity that works to strengthen prisoners’ most important relationships.
Time for Families provides relationship, parenting and financial education programmes to inmates in over 20 prisons across the country, including Brixton, Dartmoor and Wandsworth. Over the past two years they have run over 40 courses. With the support of prison authorities, Time for Families enables prisoners and their partners to spend a day together, learning relationship and communication skills, discussing parenting issues, and learning about basic financial management. This approach tackles the major challenges a prisoner is likely to face upon release: money and employment, their relationship, and their role as a parent.
Time for Families believes that stable, healthy families are vital to the well-being of society as a whole, especially in helping reduce crime. Teaching relationship skills is a proven way to help build healthy families.
"The obsession of Government agencies with targets leads to inflexible rules which don’t always work optimally. We could get more prisoners into longer term employment if much of the superfluous red tape was dispensed with."
StreetShine, a small organisation working with homeless people in London
10 Policy Proposals
1. Greater third sector delivery of public services
Government spending reviews should set out how each department, and government as a whole, will give the third sector maximum opportunity to deliver services.
2. Less bureaucratic funding
Where government funds third sector organisations, it should do so with minimal bureaucracy, respecting the organisation’s capability to determine how best to achieve objectives.
3. Introduce voucher schemes
Vulnerable people overcoming problems such as homelessness who are entitled to government-funded care should be given vouchers to acquire support. This will allow them to choose the best service, suited to their specific need.
4. Enable community groups to take over under-used public assets
The Government should make it easier for community groups to take over under-used public assets such as neglected buildings.
5. Gift Aid should be made easier to claim
To make it easier for charities to reclaim Gift Aid and cut excessive paperwork, a set percentage of donations should be assumed to come from eligible taxpayers so that charities do not have to collect declarations from each donor.
6. Supporting Community Foundations
Community Foundations are charities which operate across the UK. Individuals donate money which the Foundation then distributes, using their specialist local knowledge, to small grassroots organisations. A fund should be created to support Community Foundations.
7. Volunteering at school
To encourage young people to contribute to their communities, volunteering schemes should be introduced in schools. Pupils should all be asked to design social action projects, vote on the most popular, and then execute it.
8. The 'V Card'
Engaging young and socially excluded people in volunteering would be greatly boosted by a V Card reward scheme. Member charities would record the amount of volunteering done by participants, who would earn credits that could be redeemed for ‘rewards’.
9. School Giving Vouchers
In a one-off initiative, all Year 6 pupils in England would be issued with a £5 giving voucher each term. After presentations on the work of various charities, they would donate their voucher to the charity of their choice.
10. The 'trustmarking' website
An independent website should be created to accredit the work of successful smaller poverty-fighting organisations and promote giving to them.
