National Publications:
Capacitybuilders’ survey of local support providers
The fourth survey in the series took place during the run up to and immediately after the Coalition Government announced severe cuts to public spending. Data collected through the surveys provides us with a valuable insight into how local support providers have been dealing with this challenging economic environment, and how they feel this will affect them in the future.
Key findings include:
- The vast majority of support providers (75%) expect their income to reduce over the next 12 months
- 44% of support providers reported a fall in income in the past year - only 22% saw their income rise
- Overall demand for support services from frontline voluntary and community groups has increased for the fourth survey in a row
- Frontline groups are increasingly demanding support services that will help them combat the effects of public spending cuts e.g. redundancy, financial management, and lobbying / campaigning
- 28% of support providers have had to cut staff numbers
A full version of the report can be found on the Improving Support website
This fourth survey included a small set of questions exploring local support providers’ knowledge of, and involvement in, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
Data shows that only 15% of support providers had been approached to become involved in the LEP covering their area. However, the vast majority (85%) would be interested in participating.
Capacitybuilders has produced a short paper which draws together findings on the issue of LEPs and voluntary and community sector involvement in them. This can also be found on Improving Support
Capacitybuilders will be running the fifth and final survey of local support providers in February 2011
Posted 22nd December