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Independence as a principle of voluntary action

Independence as a principle of voluntary action. Independence means:. The ability of organisations have to enjoy a range of freedoms to: Agree values based on their own experience and vision Carry out work that delivers on those values according to their own lights

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Independence as a principle of voluntary action

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  1. Independence as a principle of voluntary action

  2. Independence means: The ability of organisations have to enjoy a range of freedoms to: • Agree values based on their own experience and vision • Carry out work that delivers on those values according to their own lights • Challenge others and engage in public debate on the basis of those agreed values • Contribute to a defence of a public realm that values independent value-based social action

  3. Threats to Independence Co-optation: • Seduction through the apparent sharing of power Intrumentalisation: • Harnessing an organisation to objectives other than its own Incorporation: • an organisation’s activities becomes wholly defined and financed as part of a public programme

  4. The NI context: money talks • Between 2006/07 and 2010/11: • Total income increased by £172.9m (30% increase) • Total income from government increased by £133.1m (51% increase); • The increase in contract income accounted for £100m of the £133m (60% increase)

  5. The main pressure points • The switch to building relationships on the basis of public procurement models from a trust-based partnership model; • The need to drive down costs is making collaboration harder and forcing organizations to become much more competitive; • a much narrower and more instrumental view of the role of voluntary organizations in public policy; • An atmosphere of fear and timidity among organizations coupled with a lack of capacity in the sector as a whole to develop new stories on what voluntary action is for.

  6. Ducking and diving: is it the best we can hope for? • Strategic positioning –charity and social enterprise as brand management? • presenting different faces to different stakeholders; • Increasing the costs to the funder of regulatory oversight – exerting a high price for exit; • Maintaining distinctiveness through accessing alternative sources of funding

  7. It’s happening here too • “the ability to work unfettered to deliver services in a particular way is threatened by micromanagement by funders who are not professionals in the area in ways that are not appropriate and sufficiently sensitive”. • We’re losing the ability to be more creative; we have to work to narrow contract specifications with little pre-engagement with organizations” • There is a very fine line: we have tried to stick to our mission but there is certainly a bit of drift and we are jumping to the government’s fiddle more and more” • Mission and autonomy are the historic reasons for sector’s existence, but the ability to compete is becoming the mark of success

  8. Small steps lead to unplanned destinations • How ever did we become a service delivery organization? • “we didn’t plan it; it just happened, but if you don’t grasp opportunities you’re lost”

  9. what’s to be done – finding a new story to tell? • Create space for debate; • Building support for value-based collaborations and coalitions; • Resourcing local voluntary action to build ties both outwards and upwards

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