Research into the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector … · 2017-02-22 · Research into the VCSE sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 1 Executive Summary This

Research into the VCSE sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Research into the

Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector (VCSE) in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Report prepared for:

Cornwall Council and

Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum

Prepared by:

Transform Research, is Consultancy & PFA Research

December 2013


CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

1. INTRODUCTION 3

1.1 Aims of the research 4 1.2 Research methodology 5 1.3 Overview of sector activity 6

2. THE STRUCTURE OF VCSE ORGANISATIONS 9

2.1 Organisation status 9 2.2 Fields of work and areas of activity 10 2.3 Main clients 11

3. THE RESOURCES OF THE VCSE SECTOR 13

3.1 Paid staff 13 3.1.1 Numbers and profile of current paid staff 13 3.1.2 Qualifications and earnings of current paid staff 14 3.2 Volunteers 18 3.2.1 Numbers and profile of current volunteers 18 3.2.2 The value of volunteering 20 3.3 Turnover and sources of finance 21 3.3.1 Turnover 21 3.3.2 Sources of finance 26

4. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE VCSE SECTOR 28

4.1 Training for paid staff 28 4.2 Training for volunteers 30 4.3 Training budgets 32 4.4 Satisfaction with training for paid staff and volunteers 33 4.5 The biggest challenges in providing or accessing training currently 34

5. FUTURE EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS AND TRAINING NEEDS IN THE VCSE SECTOR 36

5.1 Anticipated changes to VSCE organisations over next five years 36 5.2 Key skills and training requirements in next five years 38

6. CONCLUDING COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 41

6.1 Concluding comments 42 6.2 Recommendations 44 6.3 Further research 47

Appendix I: Headline findings for Social Purpose Businesses 48 Appendix II: Questionnaire 50 Appendix III: Bibliography and Sources 56

TransForm Research The Innovation Centre, University of Exeter, EX4 4RN

www.transformresearch.co.uk

http://www.transformresearch.co.uk/



1

Executive Summary

This report presents the findings of research commissioned by Cornwall Council (CC) and the Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum (VSF) to identify the current profile and economic contribution of the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and to inform the Employment and Skills Strategies for the sector. Employment The VCSE sector is active in an enormously wide range of spheres: many targeted on the cross cutting themes of equalities and the environment. Three quarters of VCSE staff work in the health, social care, welfare and education areas, with many clients and beneficiaries being from local disadvantaged and minority groups.

Paid employment in the sector currently stands at c.22,300 representing c.9% of the total workforce compared with c.3% nationally and 7% in 2008. Women make up the majority of these staff (70%). Two thirds of staff are aged between 25 and 49 (67%) and a quarter (25%) aged 50+, with fewer than one in ten (8%) being under 25. Volunteers The research identified c.153,000 volunteers in CIoS, representing over one in three of the adult population of 423,000 (36%). This finding is similar to the 34% reported in 2008, but because of the increase in the adult population since then represents c.20,000 more volunteers now. Three fifths of volunteers are women (62%) – an almost identical proportion to 2008 and very similar to the national figure (57%). 7% of volunteers are people with a disability, compared with 3% in 2008. Economic activity The annual turnover of the VCSE sector has increased markedly since 2008, when it was £390m, now being of the order of £580m million making it one of the largest contributors to the local economy. Combined with its role as a very major employer, the value of the sector to the economic wellbeing of CIoS is highly significant.

This new level of magnitude reflects both the growth of the VCSE sector nationally and the particular importance of the sector in CIoS. The most important sources of finance for VCSE organisations are: fundraising; fees and charges from the private sector; and external grants from the public sector, local or central government.

In addition to the direct economic contribution of its turnover, it is very important to note the economic value of the volunteering efforts, which are worth over £490 million each year; and equate to at least 23,500 full-time equivalent employees. Employment Forecasting 30% of VCSE organisations said that there would be somewhat or significantly more employed staff in their organisations over the next five years who would be needed in: front line and delivery occupations (56%); administration, “back office”, support staff (26%); and project and contract managers (19%).




2

Half of VCSE organisations did not think that there would be much change in employment numbers over the next five years – 52% saying that they would be “roughly the same”, while nearly one in eight said that employee numbers would decline over this period (12%). Current Training Over eight out of ten VCSE organisations (82%) said that they provided training for their staff and half for their volunteers (54%). Much of this training is relatively limited in scope: lasting between 1 to 5 days a year for full time (59%) and part time employees (72%), with half being accredited (52%). The training focussed on:

Child protection/safeguarding;

Compliance;

Continuing Professional Development; and

First Aid, Food Hygiene and Health and Safety.

Among VCSE organisations with paid staff who were being trained, only two fifths have a training budget (39%) – substantially lower than in 2008 (54%) and nationally in 2010 (64%). This finding is of great concern to the future development of the sector. The single biggest challenge being faced by the sector in providing or accessing training is cost. Future Skills Needs The key skills needs of VCSE organisations over the next five years are:

Bid writing/tendering/grant applications/funding and fundraising;

Interagency working/collaboration;

Management, governance and leadership skills;

Safeguarding; and

ICT skills.

These covered the diverse challenges facing the sector: firstly in terms of the recognition of the need for the sector to be able to win work to sustain itself; secondly, the need to collaborate to do this (and to deliver) more effectively; thirdly, the need to better manage and run itself in challenging times; fourthly, the compliance and safety requirements for much of the delivery work of the sector; and fifthly, the need to drive ICT skills improvements across all staffing levels – from basic ICT usage to working in more advanced and client specific areas. Key Recommendations The recommendations identified by the research address the key skills, training and organisational development issues faced by the VCSE sector:

Ensuring VSCE staff and volunteers are highly skilled;

Enabling access to training for VCSE organisations;

Improving senior management skills;

Greater collaboration; and

Increasing awareness and evidence of VCSE value.




3

1. Introduction

This report presents the findings from research commissioned by Cornwall Council (CC) and the Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum (VSF) to identify the current profile and economic contribution of the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE) in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

1.1 Aims of the research

The overall aim of the research was to produce an evidence base that can be used to enable the effective development and support of VCSE organisations and their full contribution to the economic development of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. In particular the research was designed to inform the Employment and Skills Strategies for the VCSE sector by identifying the following:

Sector activity overview;

Employment;

Volunteers;

Economic activity;

Employment forecasting; and

Future skills needs.

The research was commissioned in July 2013 in order to produce a final report to coincide with the development and publication of the Employment and Skill Strategies in December 2013.

1.2 Research methodology

In order to achieve these aims, the research was designed with the following four key components:

Qualitative research among sector stakeholders and partners;

A mapping exercise to identify the scale and scope of the VCSE sector;

A survey of a sample of VCSE organisations identified by the mapping; and

Grossing up the findings from the survey to the identified “whole” sector. Qualitative research among sector stakeholders and partners It should be noted that it had originally been intended that the qualitative research would follow after the survey stage described below, in order to discuss and explore the implications of the findings for the sector. However, because of the need to produce a draft VCSE Employment and Skills Strategy (ESS) within the LEP timelines the depth interviews were actually conducted at the start of the research process. As such they were used to inform and guide the development of the ESS strategy itself as well as the questions to be used during the survey stage.




4

During July and August, 24 depth interviews were conducted with senior officers from the VCSE sector, plus other key stakeholders including commissioners, DWP and training providers. The interviews started with a PEST and SWOT analysis before the respondents were asked for their views on employment and skills before going on to consider the draft VCSE Employment and Skills Strategy. The interviews were also used to help define the sector and to inform the mapping exercise. Mapping and sector definition The main points to note about the mapping exercise that was conducted between July and September were that:

There has been much debate around what is the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise sector. The Home Office defines the sector as: “The VCSE includes local community and voluntary groups, registered charities, foundations, trusts, social enterprises, and co-operatives… They may also be referred to as ‘third sector’ or ‘civil society’ organisations. The sector provides a range of services to different groups of service users. (VCSE organisations) are independent of the Government. They also reinvest any profit they make to continue to support their aims1”.

For the purposes of this research exercise it was agreed that a broader definition would be used, covering the full breadth of activities undertaken by the sector and including CICs (community interest companies) and CIOs (charitable incorporated organisations). The definition used is shown in table 1.1 below:

Table 1.1: Definition of VCSE used for mapping exercise

Types of VCSE organisations included in mapping exercise:

Registered charity or trust only

Company limited by guarantee only

Registered charity and company limited by guarantee

Community Interest Companies

Charitable Incorporated Organisations

Unincorporated organisations (not for private profit)

Industrial and Provident Societies (co-operatives)

As such the mapping included organisations such as Social Enterprises and CICs that had not previously been included in the estimates of the size of the sector conducted in 2008 and earlier;

The mapping covered formal and informal registration sites, gatekeepers, networks and sector representatives and identified 4,525 VCSE organisations and groups in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; and

The consultations with sector stakeholders indicated that there were an estimated further c.1,500 small, local organisations that were not registered or affiliated to existing links that it was not possible to definitively identify, thereby producing a total of c.6,000 organisations.

1 www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117402/voluntary-and-social-enterprise.pdf


https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117402/voluntary-and-social-enterprise.pdf



5

Sample survey of identified VCSE organisations To collect evidence on the key areas for the research a sample survey was conducted between September and November:

The sample survey collected information from a representative sample of 452 VCSE organisations through telephone interviews and online questionnaires;

The telephone interviews were conducted by qualified MRS trained interviewers and took between 20-25 minutes to complete;

The online questionnaires were subject to logic and consistency checks to ensure data accuracy and completeness;

The 452 represents c.10% of the identified population of 4,525 and for an answer of 50% provides a survey accuracy of +/-4.4% at the 95% confidence level. For an answer of 90% the interval decreases to +/-2.6%;

Full confidence levels are shown in the table below: Table 1.2: Accuracy of survey findings (margins of error at 95% confidence level)

Total VCSE organisations identified: 4,525

Sample size 452

5% or 95% response + or – 1.9%

10% or 90% response + or – 2.6%

20% or 80% response + or – 3.5%

30% or 70% response + or – 4.0%

40% or 60% response + or – 4.3%

50% response + or – 4.4%

Grossing up

The answers given by the 452 organisations who participated in the sample survey have been grossed up to the total of 4,525 identified VCSE organisations to provide estimates for the VCSE sector as a whole.

There are several points to note when considering the implications of this grossing up exercise:

o The figures presented in the report are likely to be an underestimate of the ”actual” numbers as it is believed that there are c.6,000 organisations in total;

o However, because the “missing” c.1,500 organisations are by definition very small and with limited resources (often being ad hoc or occasional groupings, such as for one off events, incidents, celebrations, etc.), the underestimates are also very small;

o It is unlikely that such organisations will have employees or large numbers of volunteers, so their impact on the sector level findings reported for these indicators would be minimal; and

o It was agreed at the inception meeting with the client, funders and stakeholders that while the c.1,500 “small” organisations should be included in the overall profile of the sector, the focus of the research should be on the identified, larger 4,525 organisations in which most sector activity is concentrated.




6

This report This report presents the detailed findings of the research in the following chapters 2 to 6 respectively:

Chapter 2 examines the structure of the VCSE sector in CIoS in terms of organisation status, fields of work and main clients;

Chapter 3 describes the resources of the VCSE sector in CIoS, covering current staffing levels, volunteers, turnover and sources of finance;

Chapter 4 explores skills training and development for employees and volunteers as well as the biggest challenges in accessing training;

Chapter 5 looks at the anticipated future employment, skills and training needs in the sector over the next five years; and

Chapter 6 highlights the key points and conclusions that can be drawn from the findings and contains recommendations for VCSE sector development.

A copy of the questionnaire used in the telephone interviews and online survey is provided in Appendix I and Appendix II contains a bibliography of sources cited.

1.3 Summary overview of VCSE sector activity

This section presents a summary overview of the findings from the research. Size and structure of the VCSE sector in CIoS:

There are approximately 6,000 VCSE organisations in CIoS. Of these: o c.4,500 are either “formally” recognised (i.e. charities, trusts, CICs,

etc.) or operate in a structured manner linking to sector umbrellas and networks; and

o c.1,500 operate less formally, without recognised status or links, primarily serving their local community on an ad hoc basis;

Nearly half of the organisations in the sector have annual turnover of less than £10,000 (46%). While the highest single annual turnover is £31 million, the average is £128,300 and the median income is just £9,000 pa;

The annual turnover of the VCSE sector as a whole is of the order of £580m million;

The largest 10% of the organisations generate 85% of this turnover;

Eight out of ten (79%) are local, independent organisations; and

One in five (18%) are “umbrellas” assisting or supporting other voluntary organisations (including those providing services/space i.e. village halls).

Areas of work and clients:

The most important areas of work for CIoS VCSE organisations are: o Providing support/resources for community & local groups (25%); o The social care/welfare or health/wellbeing areas (24%); and o Education, pre-school and school aged children (16%).




7

The main clients for CIoS VCSE organisations are: o People living in a particular geographic area (30%); o No particular groups of people (20%); and o Pre-school children (16%).

Employees: 22,300 people currently work in the VCSE in CIoS. This represents c.9% of

the total workforce2, compared with c.3% nationally. The figure is c.30% greater than in 2008, based on the wider definition of VCSE used and growth over that time;

70% of the workforce are women, compared with 68% nationally and 76% in 2008;

47% of the workforce are full time and 53% are part time; and

Two thirds are aged between 25 and 49 (67%) and a quarter (25%) are 50+, with fewer than one in ten (8%) being under 25.

The Value of Volunteering: There are c. 153,000 volunteers, representing over one in three people in

the adult population of 423,000 in CIoS (36%);

This finding is very similar to the 34% reported in 2008, but because of the increase in the size of the adult population over that time represents c.20,000 more volunteers now;

30% of the adult population give up to 10 hours of their time a week and 6% volunteer for more than 10 hours;

Based on the conservative average of 5.8 hours volunteering/week and the current median gross annual FTE earnings of £20,9083, this volunteering is:

o Worth over £490 million to the Cornish economy each year; and o Equates to at least 23,500 full-time equivalent employees.

These figures indicate that the value of volunteering to the Cornish economy has increased by around £100 million in the last 5-6 years.

Profile of Volunteers: Three fifths of the volunteers are women (62%) and two fifths men (38%)

– almost identical proportions to those reported in 2008;

Less than one in seven volunteers are under 25 (15%), while two fifths are aged between 25 and 49 (38%) and nearly half are aged 50 or over (47%), compared with 6%, 54% and 40% respectively in 2008;

7% of volunteers are disabled people, compared with 3% in 2008;

16% of volunteers are unemployed compared with 34% reported in 2008;

1% are from a Black or minority ethnic community – the same as in 2008.

2 Based on 248,300 total employees and self-employed cited in CIoS Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion Evidence Base, CIoS Local Economic Partnership 2013 (p19) 3 CIoS Employment, Skills and Social Exclusion, Ibid (p24)




8

Current Training: Over eight out of ten VCSE organisations (82%) said that they provided

training for their staff and half for their volunteers (54%);

Just one in five of all VCSE organisations had a training budget (19%), though this figure increased to two fifths (39%) among those with staff;

Most training lasted between 1 to 5 days a year for both full time employees (59%) and part time employees (72%);

Around half of the training provided for staff (52%) and a quarter of that for volunteers (28%) was accredited;

This was mostly run by a mixture of external training providers and staff of the organisation itself (60%).

Satisfaction with Current Training and Skills: Very high levels of satisfaction were expressed with the current skills

levels of staff and volunteers, though there was less satisfaction with the ability to access suitable training for either group;

o Around nine out of ten organisations were very or fairly satisfied with the skills and knowledge of their current staff (91%) and volunteers (84%); and

o Over half were very or fairly satisfied with their ability to access suitable training for staff (60%) or volunteers (53%);

The biggest challenges the sector faces in providing or accessing training: The single biggest challenge faced by the sector in providing or accessing

training now is the cost of financing the training. 85% of organisations responding to the survey mentioned this challenge.

The other challenges identified by smaller numbers included: o Time pressure issues – finding the time for training, because they

were operating under great time pressure; o Timing and access issues – the problem that some training was not

provided at convenient times or locations; o Identifying and finding the right courses and training – problems

with finding suitable training for their staff and volunteers; o Obtaining higher level skills and qualifications – particular issues

with higher levels because of cost and time requirements. There was general consensus that, if the money and time were available,

then for most VCSE organisations interviewed there was appropriate, high quality training provision available either locally or within the South West.

Key skills needs and training requirements of the sector in the next 5 years: Five key areas were identified as the being key skills requirements in the

next 5 years: Bid writing/tendering/grant applications/funding and fundraising; ICT skills; Management, governance and leadership skills; Interagency working/collaboration; and Safeguarding.




9

2. The structure of VCSE organisations

This chapter details the findings of the research in relation to the structure of the VCSE sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in terms of:

Organisation status;

Fields of work and areas of activity; and

Main clients.

2.1 Organisation status

Over three quarters (79%) of the organisations completing the survey said that they were independent local organisations and 21% were part of a larger, national organisation. This compared with 75% and 24% respectively in 20084. Just under one in five (18%) described themselves as an “umbrella organisation”, assisting other voluntary groups (N.B. includes those providing services/space i.e. village halls). Registered charities are the most common legal structure in the sector (72%) together with a further one in ten organisations who were both registered charities and a company limited by guarantee (10%). This finding is also very similar to 2008, when it was reported that 75% of organisations were charities. Chart 2.1 below shows the full breakdown. Chart 2.1 VCSE organisation status (%)

Base: 452 VCSE organisations

When considering these results it should be noted that the while the survey findings are representative of the “formal” registered VCSE sector, it is acknowledged that they do not cover an estimated c.1,500 small, “informal” local groups. These local groups would be predominantly unincorporated organisations (not for profit). 4 Valuing the Voluntary Sector: Impact of Objective One Funds on VCS in Cornwall 2000-2007, Perfect Moment, 2008 p18




10

2.2 Fields of work and areas of activity

The organisations completing the survey were asked to identify their “single most important field of work.” Of course the VCSE sector is active in many different fields and there is a great deal of overlap between areas, such as working with disadvantaged young people from a particular location by providing cultural or sporting opportunities. The answers given reflect this diversity. In combination, over two fifth of VCSEs organisations (45%) were operating in the broad social care, welfare, health and wellbeing area (including education and providing services to pre-school children, school aged children and young people). A further quarter (25%) said that their single most important field of work was providing support and or resources to their local community/community groups. Chart 2.2 below contains the full details of the wide range of fields of work. Organisations who said they did “something else” often mentioned fund raising without specifying for what the funds were being raised or that they undertook a mixture of all the other activities.

Chart 2.2 VCSE organisations’ single most important field of work (%)


The findings shown in the chart are similar to those reported for the sector nationally in 2011 and those in 2008 for CIoS. These both found that health and social care in its broadest sense is the main focus of the work of the sector – with the UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011 reporting: “more than half of the (57%) of the voluntary sector workforce were employed in ‘health and social work’”5, while the 2008 report indicated that 41% of organisations worked in the health and social care area6.

5 UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011, NVCO, Third Sector Skills and Third Sector Research Centre, 2011, p5 6 Valuing the Voluntary Sector: Impact of Objective One Funds on VCS in Cornwall 2000-2007, Perfect Moment, 2008 p19




11

Three quarters of VCSE organisations (75%) reported that providing a direct service or services in one form or another to their clients was their single most important activity. Smaller proportions reported providing education, training or skills (10%), information advice and guidance (7%) or advocacy/campaigning (4%) as their main activities. Those saying “something else”, most often mentioned fund raising. Chart 2.3 VCSE organisations’ single most important activity (%)


2.3 Main clients

Reflecting their local, community focus, nearly a third of the organisations answering the survey said that their main clients were people living in (their) particular geographic area (30%). In combination, a similar proportion (28%) mentioned pre-school children, school age children or young people. One in five could not identify a particular group of clients (20%) as their services were available for all. Chart 2.4 overleaf contains the details, though it should again be emphasised that there is potential for overlap between the different groups. For example an organisation working with children with disabilities might classify itself in any one of three categories: pre-school children, school aged children or people with disabilities. Similarly the overlap between serving a local community and providing a specific service to members of that community, is the reason that the proportions of organisations mentioning jobless people (5%), elderly people (4%) or people with drug, alcohol or addiction problems (1%) are comparatively low.




12

Chart 2.4 Main clients of VCSE organisations (%)


The organisations were asked about the numbers of clients that used their services in the course of a year. A quarter either did not know or could not say because of the nature of their activity, such as maintaining a local park or playing fields, or running a village hall. Among the 340 who did provide answer, two thirds had between 1 and 500 clients (64%), again reflecting the local nature of their work and also the specialist nature of their activities. Only very small proportions had very large numbers of clients: 6% having between 10,000 and 100,000 clients in a year and 2% more than 100,000. Chart 2.5 shows the details below. Chart 2.5 Number of clients per year (%)

Base: 340 VCSE organisations providing a figure




13

3. THE RESOURCES OF THE VCSE SECTOR

This chapter describes the resources of the VCSE sector in CIoS, covering:

Current paid staff and volunteers;

Turnover and sources of finance.

3.1 Paid staff 3.1.1 Numbers and profile of current paid staff The key findings for the size and profile of current paid staff are:

The VCSE sector is a very significant employer in the county: 22,300 people currently work for VCSE organisations representing c.9% of the total workforce7, compared with just c.3% nationally8;

The figure of 22,300 is c.30% greater than the 17,100 reported in 2008, based on the growth of the sector over that time and the wider definition of VCSE used (including CICs, companies limited by guarantee, etc.);

This level of growth broadly reflects growth nationally, with the UK voluntary sector workforce growing by 19% between 2007 and 20109;

The majority of CIoS VCSE employees are female: 70% of the workforce being women, compared with 68% nationally and 76% in 2008;

47% of the workforce are full time and 53% are part time compared with one third being part time nationally (38%); and

Two thirds are aged between 25 and 49 (67%) and a quarter (25%) are 50+, with fewer than one in ten (8%) being under 25.

Three quarters of the workforce of 22,300 are employed in VCSE organisations whose single most important field of work is either:

Social care and health and well-being (42%); or

Education, pre-school, school and young people (32%). Chart 3.1 overleaf shows the percentage of VCSE employees (red bars) working in each of the most important fields of work compared with the percentage of organisations (blue bars) operating in each of the most important fields. As well as emphasising the significance of the two fields highlighted above, the chart also shows how comparatively few employees there are in the support/resources for community groups field of work. While organisations operating in the community field account for 25% of all VCSE organisations, they employ less than one in ten of all VCSE staff, relying mainly on voluntary and in kind support.

7 Based on 248,300 total employees and self-employed cited in Cornwall and Isle of Scilly Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion Evidence Base, CIoS Local Economic Partnership 2013, p19 8 UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011, NVCO, Third Sector Skills and Third Sector Research Centre, 2011, p5 9 UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011, NVCO, Third Sector Skills and Third Sector Research Centre, 2011, p7




14

Chart 3.1 VCSE single most important field of work by employees (%) and organisations (%)

Base: 452 VCSE organisations 3.1.2 Qualifications and earnings of current paid staff The VCSE organisations with paid employees were asked about their minimum qualification levels and average earnings for three different levels of staff: entry level, delivery/front line staff and senior managers. In asking these questions it was recognised that for various reasons some organisations would not be able to answer. This was either because they did not have staff at the three different levels or because they were not able or willing to provide that amount of detail, particularly about earnings. Nonetheless, c.100 organisations did provide full answers for each of the three levels, sufficient to produce some statistically robust and interesting findings. Chart 3.2 overleaf contains the key findings for the minimum qualification levels of each of the three different staffing levels identified in the current VCSE workforce. As is to be expected, the charts show a clear correlation between higher level qualifications and level of seniority: half (50%) of senior staff being required to have at least an NVQ Level 4 or degree level qualification, compared with a quarter (24%) of delivery/front line staff and 7% of entry level staff. What is more interesting, is that for over half of entry level staff there is no minimum qualification level (53%) and that this figure is around a quarter for both delivery/ front line staff (29%) and senior staff (25%).




15

It was noticeable that many of the organisations who said “no minimum qualification” is required, often added “it is experience, not qualifications that are needed”. While this was a recurring theme for each of the three levels, it was mentioned more often for the senior level staff. It is also worth noting how the chart shows that delivery/front line staff have the most segmented set of qualification requirements, relating very specifically to their delivery duties. Examples of these included: “Care assistant and kitchen staff Level 2”, “Level 3 NVQ in Advice and guidance” and “Clinicians Level 4”. In contrast the minimum requirements for senior level staff were more often than not simply about being qualified to a certain level – i.e. having a degree, rather than any concern about subject matter. Chart 3.2 Minimum qualification requirements for VCSE staff (%)

53

29

25

22

9

0

14

29

14

7

24

50

4

9

11

0 20 40 60 80 100

Entry level

Delivery level

Senior level

No qualification required NVQ Level 2 or equivalent GCSEs

NVQ Level 3 or equivalent A levels NVQ Level 4 or equivalent

Specific qualification (level n/s)

Senior base: 105 VCSE organisations with senior staff and answering question Delivery base: 110 VCSE organisations with delivery/front line staff and answering question Entry base: 92 VCSE organisations with entry level staff and answering question




16

Moving onto the key findings for the average FTE (per year) earnings for the three levels it was found that10, based on either an 8 hour working day for five days a week or a 7.5 hour working day for five days a week, the average earnings were:

Entry level staff (£6.99/hour) £14,539 FTE (8hrs) or £13,630 FTE (7.5hrs)

Delivery/front staff (£8.05/hour) £16,744 FTE (8hrs) or £15,698 FTE (7.5hrs)

Senior managers (£11.97/hour) £24,897 FTE (8hrs) or £23,342 FTE (7.5hrs) The following charts 3.3 to 3.5 provide detail of each of these three staff levels. The following points can be made about the wages paid at each level: Entry level staff Chart 3.3 shows that a proportion of VCSE organisations who employ entry level staff (16%) may be paying them below the minimum wage (N.B. Apprentices and those under 18 were not supposed to be included in these figures, but it is possible they were accidentally included thereby lowering the rates). A quarter of organisations (25%) were paying exactly the minimum wage11, while nearly two fifths were paying £6.32-£7.99/hour (38%) and one in five £8.00+/hour (21%), although none paid more than £10/hour. The median wage paid at this level was just above the minimum wage at £6.63/hour (£13,790 FTE), lower than the average noted above. Chart 3.3 Average earnings per hour for Entry Level VCSE staff (%)

16 25 38 21 0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Less than £6.25 per hour £6.25 - £6.31 (min wage) £6.32 - £7.99 per hour

£8.00 - £9.99 per hour £10 or more per hour

Base: 91 VCSE organisations with Entry Level staff and answering question

Delivery/front line staff Chart 3.4 shows that delivery/front line staff were paid slightly more on average than entry level staff, with none being paid less than the minimum wage, though 16% of organisations were paying them just the minimum wage. Over two fifths (44%) were paid between £6.32 and £7.99 an hour, while a quarter (27%) were paid between £8.00 and £9.99 and one in eight (13%) £10 or more. The median salary paid for delivery/front line staff was £15,600, again less than the average above.

10 It should be noted that these findings are based on the 91, 81 and 94 VCSE organisations who answered the earnings questions and employed staff at the respective levels. 11 There was some confusion among organisations about the current minimum wage, as it has recently changed from £6.25 to £6.31 per hour, which is why the charts overleaf “band” the minimum wage between these two hourly rates.




17

Chart 3.4 Average earnings per hour for Delivery/Front Line Level VCSE staff (%)

1 15 44 27 13

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


£8.00 - £9.99 per hour £10 or more per hour

Base: 81 VCSE organisations with Delivery/Front Line Level staff and answering question Senior managers Chart 3.5 below shows that while no VCSE organisations paid their senior managers less than the minimum wage, one in seven (15%) paid them just above this level (between £6.50 and £7.99 per hour or between c.£13,500 and £16,500 FTE per year). Half of VCSE organisations paid senior staff (52%) between £10.00 and £14.99 per hour (c. between £20,000 and £30,000 FTE per year), while one in six (16%) paid between £15.00 and £19.99 per hour (c. between £30,000 and £42,000 FTE per year). Just 2% organisations paid more than £20.00 per hour (more than £42,000 FTE per year). The median salary paid for senior staff was £25,000.

Chart 3.5 Average earnings per hour for Senior Level VCSE staff (%)

00 15 15 52 16 2

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


£8.00 - £9.99 per hour £10.00 - £14.99 per hour £15.00 - £19.00 per hour

£20+ per hour

Base: 94 VCSE organisations with Senior Level staff and answering question

It is worth noting that in 2012 the median gross annual earnings for all employees in C&IoS was £17,389 the equivalent of £8.36 per hour. Nationally the figure was £21,473 or £10.32 per hour12.

12 Cornwall and Isle of Scilly Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion Evidence Base, CIoS Local Economic Partnership 2013, p13




18

3.2 Volunteers

3.2.1 Numbers and profile of current volunteers The key findings for the numbers and profile of the people currently volunteering for VCSE organisations in CIoS are:

There are c. 153,000 volunteers, representing over one in three people in the adult population of 423,000 in CIoS (36%);

This finding is very similar to the 34% reported in 2008, but because of the increase in the size of the adult population over that time represents c.20,000 more volunteers now;

Three fifths of the volunteers are women (62%) and two fifths men (38%) – almost identical proportions to those reported in 2008;

One in seven volunteers are under 25 (15%), while two fifths are aged between 25 and 49 (38%) and nearly half are aged 50 or over (47%), compared with 6%, 54% and 40% respectively in 2008;

7% of volunteers are disabled people, compared with 3% reported in the last research in 2008;


1% of volunteers are from a Black or minority ethnic community – the same figure as reported in 2008; and

These figures indicate that there have been some changes in the profile of volunteers since the last research:

o They are less likely to be aged between 25 and 49; and o They are less likely to be unemployed.

As noted, the volunteers overall came predominantly from more mature age groups, with nearly half being aged 50 or over (47%). However, as was to be expected this age distribution varied considerably in terms of the area of activity of the VCSE organisation. Chart 3.6 overleaf shows the age bandings for each of the major areas of activity, illustrating that:

For organisations involved in activities for young people aged 16 – 24 (30%), sports, leisure and recreation (28%), education (27%) and preschool (18%), their volunteers were more likely to be aged 25 or younger;

While for those involved in activities concerning health and wellbeing (66%) or culture and arts (76%) the volunteers were even more likely to be aged 50 or older; and

Those aged between 25 and 49 were more likely to be volunteering with organisations whose activities involved school aged children (65%) or preschool children (74%).

Of course these volunteering activities strongly reflected the relevant interests of each of the three age groups.




19

Chart 3.6 Volunteer age band by activity of organisations (%)

4

6

10

11

12

18

27

28

30

30

17

36

65

45

74

40

39

36

66

76

54

25

43

9

33

33

33

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Health and wellbeing

Culture/arts

Social care/welfare

School aged children (up to 16)

Environment

Pre-school children

Education

Sports/leisure/recreation

Young people aged 16 to 24

Under 25 25 to 49 50 +

Base: 317 VCSE organisations with volunteers 70% of the VCSE organisations surveyed said that they had volunteers. These organisations were asked how long their volunteers stayed with them and whether this length of time met their needs. The vast majority said that their volunteers were very loyal: with over nine out of ten (92%) saying that they stayed a year or more. A similar proportion (93%) said this length of time suited them. Chart 3.7 below contains the details.

Chart 3.7 Length of stay of volunteers (%)

2%

7%

14%

78%

A few weeks A few months About a year More than a year

Base: 317 VCSE organisations with volunteers




20

Management committee members, trustees, etc. As well as their volunteers working “on the ground”, the VCSE organisations were asked about the number of management committee members, trustees, etc. that they currently had in total. On average, just under 9 people were currently on the management committee or acting as a trustee, etc. of VCSE organisations. Chart 3.8 shows the spread of numbers across the sector, with three quarters of organisations having 10 or fewer members, trustees, etc. (77%) and just 3% having more than 20. Chart 3.8 No. of committee members, trustees, etc. (%)

Base: 452 VCSE organisations 3.2.2 The value of volunteering to the economy As mentioned, the research found that there are c. 153,000 volunteers, representing over one in three people in the adult population of 423,00013 in CIoS (36%). The NVCO reports that nationally figures from the Community Life Survey show that in 2012-13 29% of adults volunteered formally (through a group, club or organisation) at least once a month14. This indicates that CIoS has a comparatively high level of volunteering which is worth a very significant amount to the economy:

30% of the adult population give up to 10 hours of their time a week and 6% volunteer for more than 10 hours;

13 Census 2011, http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-327143 14 http://www.ncvo.org.u.


http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-327143

http://www.ncvo.org.uk/policy-and-research/volunteering-policy/what-research-tells-us



21

Based on the conservative average of 5.8 hours volunteering/week and the current median gross annual FTE earnings of £20,90815, this volunteering is:

o Worth over £490 million to the Cornish economy each year; and o Equates to at least 23,500 full-time equivalent employees.

These figures indicate that the value of volunteering to the Cornish economy has increased by around £100 million since 2007.

When considering these monetary figures it is very important to bear in mind that volunteering activities also produce a very wide range of further significant benefits to society: such as community cohesion, health and wellbeing, environmental enhancements, personal development, skills and learning, etc. These are, of course, very often the things that money cannot buy.

3.3 Turnover and sources of finance

3.3.1 Turnover The organisations in the survey were asked about their (estimated) annual financial turnover16. The key findings are:

Nearly half of the organisations in the sector have annual turnover of less than £10,000 (46%). While the highest single annual turnover is £31 million, the average is £128,300 and the median income is just £9,000 per annum;

The annual turnover of the CIoS VCSE sector is of the order of £580m million; and

The largest 10% of the organisations in the sector generate 85% of this turnover.

Chart 3.9 Turnover of VCSE organisations (%)

15 CIoS Employment, Skills and Social Exclusion, Ibid (p13) 16 It should be noted that the VCSE organisations who provided turnover data usually answered for the last full financial year for which audited figures were available. In some cases this was for April 2010 – March 2011 or January – December 2011, while in others it was April 2011 – March 2012 or January – December 2012. These time “delays” are important because it is known that the sector’s income has fallen in recent years and this fall may not be fully reflected in the figures given.




22

Base: 452 VCSE organisations These figures are in line with those that have been reported nationally for the voluntary sector and indicate how significantly the CIoS sector has grown since the previous research report in 2008. The key points for comparison nationally (currently) and locally (historically) can be summarised as:

NVCO states that nationally17: o 54% of voluntary organisations are ‘micro’ – with an annual income of

less than £10,000, while ‘small’ organisations – with an income of between £10,000 and £100,000 – account for 31%; and

o Large and major organisations receive just over three quarters (77%) of the sector’s income.

Locally, the 2008 report found18: o Over half of the sector reports a yearly income of less than £10,000.

The highest single income is £28 million, the average is £130,000 but the median income is around £7,000 per year; and

o 10% of the sector generates 90% of the sector’s income. It is also worth highlighting that turnover levels were related to both the status of the VCSE organisation and its area of activity. Among the VCSE organisations surveyed that were a “registered charity or trust only”:

51% had turnover of less than £10,000;

24% of between £10,000 and £50,000;

20% of between £50,000 and £250,000;

4% of between £250,000 and £1 million; and

Just 2% of more than £1 million.

17 http://data.ncvo.org.uk/a/almanac12/almanac/voluntary-sector/scope/how-big-is-a-typical-voluntary-organisation/ 18 Valuing the Voluntary Sector: Impact of Objective One Funds on VCS in Cornwall 2000-2007, Perfect Moment, 2008 p19


http://data.ncvo.org.uk/a/almanac12/almanac/voluntary-sector/scope/how-big-is-a-typical-voluntary-organisation/



23

While the bases were low, and the results must be treated with caution, the survey evidence also indicated that the VCSE organisations that were either a “registered charity and company limited by guarantee” or a “community interest company” were more likely to have larger turnovers than other VCSE organisations. Over half of those who were a “registered charity and company limited by guarantee” had turnover of more than £50,000 to £250,000 as did a third of those who were a “community interest company”. Furthermore, nearly seven out of ten of the VCSE organisations providing support and resources to community groups (69%) had turnover of less than £10,000, while those providing social care and welfare were also more likely to have larger turnovers of £50,000 to £250,000 (43%). As a follow up to these questions about their turnover, the VSCE organisations were asked about any changes to their turnover and/or their caseload levels during the course of the last year. Interestingly, an almost identical proportion said that their turnover had increased (29%) as said it had decreased (28%). Nearly two fifths said that it had not changed (38%). Chart 3.10 overleaf contains the detail. Chart 3.10 Whether turnover has increased, decreased or stayed the same in last year (%)

29%

38%

28%

5%

Increased Stayed the same Decreased Don't know


Further to this, and more significantly, when asked if their caseload had changed in the last year, two fifths (41%) of the VCSE organisations surveyed said that it had increased and less than one fifth (18%) that it had decreased. Nearly two fifths (37%) said that it had stayed the same. When the findings for changes in turnover noted above are compared with these findings for changes in caseload, the following two key points emerge:




24

One third of the VCSE organisations (35%) that had a decrease in their turnover in the last year actually had an increase in their caseload; and

A quarter of the VCSE organisations (26%) that had the same turnover in the last year, nevertheless had an increase in their caseload.

Clearly it is among these two specific sets of VCSE organisations that the stresses of budgetary cutbacks and increased workload will be being felt most acutely. Chart 3.11 overleaf clearly illustrates these findings, although it also shows that for the majority of VCSE organisations having an increase in turnover reflected an increase in caseload or having the same turnover corresponded with having the same caseload. Chart 3.11 Changes in turnover and caseload in last year (%)

70

2635

24

64

22

6 10

43

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Organisations withincreased turnover

Organisations withsame turnover

Organisations withdecreased turnover

Increased caseload Same caseload Decreased caseload


The analysis undertaken also examined the findings reported in the previous sections concerning sector level turnover, numbers of employees, numbers of volunteers and changes in turnover in the last year in relation to the size of the organisation. For the purpose of this exercise and to provide sufficient numbers for reliable analysis the organisations were banded into four categories, based on their turnover:

“Micro” VCSE organisations with turnover of less than £10,000;

“Small” VCSE organisations with turnover of £10,000 to less than £50,000;




25

“Medium” VCSE organisations with turnover of £50,000 to less than £250,000; and

“Large” VCSE organisations with turnover of £250,000 or more. Chart 3.12 overleaf contains the details of the analysis in terms of the sector level numbers of organisations, turnover, numbers of employees and numbers of volunteers. It shows that of the total VCSE sector turnover of c.£580m:

The large VCSE organisations with £250,000+ turnover in the sector account for c.£482m (83%) of the total turnover;

The medium organisations with £50,000 to <£250,000 turnover account for c.£75m (13%) of the total;

The small organisations with between £10,000 and <£50,000 turnover account for c.£17m (3%) of the total; and

The micro organisations with less than £10,000 turnover account for c.£6m (1%) of the total.

Interestingly, when the focus changes to the numbers of employees and volunteers in the sector, the distribution changes dramatically between the different sized organisations. In terms of the total number of employees in the VCSE sector of c.22,300:

The large VCSE organisations with £250,000+ turnover in the sector account for c.12,240 (55%) of the total employees;

The medium organisations with £50,000 to <£250,000 turnover account for c.7,360 (33%) of the total;

The small organisations with between £10,000 and <£50,000 turnover account for c.2,000 (9%) of the total; and

The micro organisations with less than £10,000 turnover account for c.700 (3%) of the total (N.B. These were nearly all part time employees).

And in terms of the total number of volunteers in the VCSE sector of c.153,000:

The large VCSE organisations with £250,000+ turnover in the sector have c.52,000 (34%) volunteers;

The medium organisations with £50,000 to <£250,000 turnover have c.47,500 (31%) volunteers;

The small organisations with between £10,000 and <£50,000 turnover have c.29,000 (19%) volunteers; and

The micro organisations with less than £10,000 turnover have c.24,500 (16%) volunteers.

Chart 3.12 Organisation size compared with key sector level findings (%)




26

46%

1%

3%

16%

20%

3%

9%

19%

24%

13%

33%

31%

9%

83%

55%

34%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

4,525 sector organisations

£580m sector turnover

22,300 sector employees

153,000 sector volunteers

Micros < £10k Small £10 to <£50k Medium £50k to <£250k Large £250k+


Chart 3.13 shows the likelihood of organisations’ turnover having increased or decreased in the last year, relative to their size. Overall, there were no significant differences between the bands, though there was some evidence that the turnover of micros was more likely to have “stayed the same” than those in other groups. Chart 3.13 Organisation size compared with whether turnover has changed in last year (%)




27

Base: 452 VCSE organisations 3.3.2 Sources of finance The organisations that answered the survey were asked about their three most important sources of finance. The key findings are19:

Half of VCSE organisations (53%) said that fundraising, in its various forms such as through retail sales, on street or door-to-door collections, donations, etc.), was one of their most important three sources;

Two fifths of VCSE organisations (40%) said that fees and charges from the private sector was one of their most important three sources; and

A third of VCSE organisations (32%) said that external grants from the public sector (either local or central government) was one of their most important three sources.

Chart 3.14 below contain the details, illustrating the range of sources being used to finance the sector’s work. In total eleven main different sources were mentioned plus a wide variety of other “private sources” such as legacies, bequests, membership or subscription fees, room/hall/property rentals, interest from bonds, endowments, investments and savings, advertising and publications. The chart also clearly illustrates some of the changes impacting on the sector in recent years: just 15% of VCSE organisations said that contracts or service agreements with the public sector were one of their three main sources of finance, while a similar proportion said that direct selling to the public of goods or services (19%) was one of their most important sources.

19 Please note that the answers add to more than 100% because each organisation could give up to three answers.




28

Chart 3.14 VCSE organisation’s three most important sources of finance (%)

Base: 452 VCSE organisations (up to 3 answers allowed)

When asked to state their single most important source finance, it is interesting to note that fees and charges from the private sector rose to the top of the list (22%), while fund raising fell to second (16%) and external grants (15%) from the public sector stayed in third place. Chart 3.15 below has the details. Chart 3.15 VCSE organisation’s single most important source of finance (%)

Base: 452 VCSE organisations (Single most important source only)




29

4. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE VCSE SECTOR

This chapter explores current training provision for employees and volunteers, satisfaction with skills levels as well as the biggest challenges being faced by the sector in providing or accessing training.

4.1 Training for paid staff Eight out of ten of VCSE organisations who have paid staff currently provide training for them (82%). The amount of training provided per year varies significantly between full- and part-time staff members, with full timers being more likely to receive more than 6 days a year compared with part timers:

Full time staff receive: o 1 to 5 days per year (60%); and o 6+ days per year (40%)

Part time staff receive: o 1 to 5 days per year (78%); and o 6+ days per year (22%)

The training provided is usually run by a mixture of both staff members and an external company or organisation (60%). Chart 4.2 contains the details. Chart 4. 1 Sources of training for VCSE organisation’s paid staff (%)

Base: 162 VCSE organisations with paid staff providing training When asked how much of the training provided was accredited, there were quite wide discrepancies in the answers given: a quarter said all of it was accredited (24%), while a fifth said none if it was accredited (20%). A further 18% of organisations said that half of the training was accredited. Chart 4.2 overleaf contains all the details.




30

Chart 4.2 Proportion of training for paid staff that is accredited (%)

20%

5%

8%

4%3%

18%

4%3%

6%5%

24%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

% O

rgan

isat

ions

% Accredited

Base: 162 VCSE organisations with paid staff providing training The VCSE organisations that were providing training for their paid staff were asked to describe the main focus of the training being provided. There was great deal of overlap between the various areas mentioned, though the main ones can be summarised as:

Child protection/safeguarding Some of the most common answers given in this category included: “Child protection, safe guarding, safe holding, intervention, counselling, drugs, alcohol, self-harm, etc.”, “safeguarding for children and vulnerable young people, manual handling, sexual health” and “to ensure staff fulfil required amount of training days for their professional registration and to remain current and up to date with child protection, safeguarding, EYFS, SEN, OFSTED, etc.”

Compliance Often closely related to the training noted above, some common answers in this category included: “Keeping up to date with legislation and current thinking in pre-school education”, “Supporting best practice, new laws and procedures, legal changes”, “Early years framework, special needs …Various courses need to be updated every 3 years or so”, “Keeping staff up to date on legislation”, “Annual updates in safeguarding, etc.” and “Keeping up with changes of legislation and equipment and products”.

Continuing Professional Development Again closely related to the two categories noted above, some common answers included: “CPD”, “Staff development”, “Skills to deliver services; personal and professional development”, “Development of staff and improved services” and “To enhance staff development to enable staff to deliver a high quality service to parents/carers”.




31

First Aid, Food Hygiene and Health and Safety Numerous mentions were made of these specific training courses, albeit for use in a range of different situations, i.e. for different types of clients (children, young people or the elderly) or for different types of work situations (i.e. in the kitchen, cleaning, manual handling and lifting) or for accidents at work.

It should be noted that quite a number of VCSE organisations gave very generic answers, such as “to up skill our staff and improve our quality” or said that the trained varied too much to be specific. The other specific areas that were mentioned on several occasions included:

Accountancy (SAGE, etc.) and business administration;

Customer care and service;

IT and computer skills;

Marketing. A small number of organisations noted: “accessing funding”, “bid writing”, or “management and leadership”, although these small numbers are to be expected in answer to this question which primarily produced answers about the training being received by delivery and front line staff members, rather than the senior staff.

4.2 Training for volunteers

Half of the VCSE organisations who have volunteers currently provide training for them (54%). When asked how much of the training provided for volunteers was accredited, there were even wider discrepancies than those reported for the paid staff: less than one in seven said all of it was accredited (15%), while nearly a half said none of it was accredited (46%). A further 12% of organisations said that only between 1 and 10% of the training was accredited. Chart 4.3 overleaf contains the details of the range of answers. The VCSE organisations that were providing training for their volunteers were also asked to describe the main focus of the training the volunteers had received. Many said “the same as the staff get” or repeated each of the four main areas noted in section 4.1 above for staff: i.e. child protection/safeguarding; compliance; continuing Professional Development and First Aid, Health and Safety and Food Hygiene. There was also a good deal of focus on training volunteers to develop specific practical skills in undertaking the required tasks of the organisation, such as “preserving the artefacts” for volunteers in a museum, “learning to tack up, lead and side walking” for volunteers helping with riding for the disabled, “footpath maintenance, stone walling” for countryside conservation and “learning to drive the minibus” for those helping with a local community bus providing a range of services to people without transport. In all, a very wide range of diverse and useful practical skills were being taught to volunteers across the county.




32

Chart 4.3 Proportion of training for volunteers that is accredited (%)

47%

12%

5% 4% 3%0%

7%

2%4%

1%

15%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

% O

rgan

isat

ion

s

% Accredited

Base: 172 VCSE organisations with volunteers providing training to them

As well as the practical skills noted above, a similarly wide range of skills and abilities relating to dealing with health, social care, welfare and personal issues were also being taught to volunteers. Again these were very closely related to the role and aims of the organisations involved and answers given included:

“Understanding complexities of dyslexia and associated difficulties” “Understanding and working with sexual violence and domestic abuse” “To encourage confidence and knowledge in representing other parent/carers at meetings” “To enable us to become aware of dementia and how to handle it” “Experiencing young people” “Basic training in supporting staff to run safe and appropriate sessions” “To be aware of handling young people correctly, mindful of safeguarding”

Finally in relation to volunteers’ training there were also a specific category of training being provided for trustees, committee members, etc. These most commonly included:

“Responsibilities of being a trustee, charity rules.” “Committee roles, governance training etc.” “Each year they elect members to various roles, so training would be to try understand their new role as a secretary for instance. Also they need to understand the national rotary rules.” “For trustees - fundraising, promoting your charity, legal and governance issues etc.”

A few organisations also made reference to volunteer management training, though there were only a few of these.




33

4.3 Training budgets

The research found evidence of declines in both the proportion of organisations with training budgets and the size of the budgets for those that had actually them:

Among the VCSE organisations who have paid staff and currently provide training for them, only two fifths have a training budget (39%);

The comparable figure from 2008 for similar VCSE organisations in CIoS was around a half (54%)20; and

Both of these figures are substantially below the national average reported for 2010 by NCVO of two thirds (64%)21.

This indicates that three fifths of training for VCSE staff (61%) is currently being provided without a budget: the bulk internally by staff members or externally on “free” courses. (Although it should be noted that some of these organisations without a training budget indicated they were still paying for some training, but that they did not have a specified budget for it). The finding also shows that across all VCSE organisations (both those with and without staff, regardless of whether they provide training) that eight out of ten do not have a training budget (81%)22.

In terms of the budgets allocated to training:

The average training budget amount per head for those VCSE organisations that declared an amount was £191 per year;

The comparable figure in 2008 was £212 representing an apparent decline of 10% per head;

NCVO found in 2007 that the national average was £279 per head though no more up-to-date figure is available.

When considering these findings there are various points to take into account:

Firstly, the impact of the recession and funding cutbacks on organisations: many leading skills commentators regularly note that one of the first “victims” of difficult financial conditions is skills training, as organisations seek “easy” ways to reduce their expenditure; and

Secondly the growth in the number of employees in the sector since 2008, which on the one hand might have given organisations the opportunity to achieve greater economies of scale per head in training spend (i.e. a course for five employees maybe comparatively cheaper per head than one for three), yet on the other hand would have left them facing larger bills for training while being faced with declining budgets.

20 Valuing the Voluntary Sector: Impact of Objective One Funds on VCS in Cornwall 2000-2007, Perfect Moment, 2008 p21 21 It is worth highlighting that these figures are substantially below the figure reported nationally for the voluntary sector by NCVO. They report that: “Just under two-thirds (64%) of voluntary organisations had a budget for training (in 2010), the same proportion as in 2007, but higher than the private sector (31%) and lower than local government (83%”). UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011, Ibid p5 22 As was to be expected, the proportion of organisations that had a training budget varied in close correlation to the size of their turnover: decreasing among smaller organisations and increasing greatly among the organisations with larger turnovers: 6% of those with less than £10,000 turnover had a training budget; 7% of those with between £10,000 and £50,000; 29% of those between £50,000 and £250,000; 53% between £250,000 and £1,000,000 and 78% among the £1,000,000+ organisations.




34

4.4 Satisfaction with skills and training of employees and volunteers

Those organisations with employees and/or volunteers were asked about their levels of satisfaction with the: skills and knowledge of their current employed staff and volunteers; and accessing suitable training for their staff and volunteers. Charts 4.4 and 4.5 show that overall, very high levels of satisfaction were expressed with the current skills levels of both staff and volunteers, though there was less satisfaction with the ability to access suitable training for either group;

Around nine out of ten organisations were very or fairly satisfied with the skills and knowledge of their current staff (91%) and volunteers (84%); and

Over half of organisations were very or fairly satisfied with their ability to access suitable training for their staff (60%) and volunteers (53%).

Chart 4.4 Satisfaction with skills and knowledge of current staff and volunteers (%)

62%

47%

31%

38%

3%

12%

2%

2%

1%

0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Staff

Volunteers

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Not very satisfied

Not at all satisfied

Base: 172 VCSE organisations with employees or volunteers providing training

Chart 4.5 Satisfaction with ability to access suitable training for staff and voltrs (%)

25%

25%

35%

28%

30%

36%

8%

8%

2%

3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Staff

Volunteers

Very satisfied Fairly satisfiedNeither satisfied nor dissatisfied Not very satisfiedNot at all satisfied

Base: 172 VCSE organisations with employees or volunteers providing training




35

4.5 The biggest challenges in providing or accessing training

As reported, when asked if they had a training budget, eight out of ten VCSE organisations overall said that they did not have a budget (81%) and only one in five that they did (19%). Not surprisingly, this situation was reflected in their replies when they described the biggest challenges that they were currently facing in providing or accessing training:

85% of organisations said that the single biggest challenge faced by the sector in providing or accessing training now is the cost of financing the training.

More respondents mentioned this challenge than all of the other answers to this question put together. The answers they gave included:

Cost issues “Funding! If we had more funding for training we would be training our staff in more specific skills” “Finding low cost or subsidised training is almost impossible, particularly for staff already holding qualifications. Since Cornwall Council withdrew their training support grants for each member of staff, it has become increasingly difficult to afford the 20 hours minimum training per year that our staff are required to undertake”. “Money! Most of the training that we need includes first aid, food hygiene etc. which costs us!” “Cost is high ... if funding were available for volunteer certificated training it would help greatly, but we have to meet this out of our own resources”. We don't have any money, so only can attend free courses.”

Clearly it is of major concern that so few VCSE organisations have a budget available to train their staff or volunteers. This has very significant implications for the future development of the sector and the quality of the work that it is able to deliver, particularly in relation to the wellbeing of the many vulnerable and disadvantaged clients that it serves. It should also be highlighted that this finding very closely reflects that reported nationally by NVCO, who found that seven out of ten (69%) voluntary sector employers cited funding as being a key problem for them in terms of training:

“The main barriers reported by voluntary sector employers who would have liked to have provided more training were lack of funds (69%)23”

NCVO go onto comment that: “With the cuts in public spending, it’s going to become even harder to find money for training courses. It will therefore be increasingly important for organisations to prioritise and target the resources that they have in a smart way, so that they can source affordable ways of skilling up their staff.”

23 UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011, Ibid p19




36

The other challenges identified by smaller numbers of VCSE organisations included:

Time pressure issues Many of the organisations interviewed were operating under great time pressures as well as financial constraints. As such many noted the problem of finding sufficient time for training: “Finding the time with caseload pressure” “Fitting training around their other commitments, many work elsewhere part time” “Sometimes we can't justify the time to take staff away from their main roles to go on training courses” “Time out from the working day. Most training takes place in working hours and we need to rely on supply cover which has an impact on our finances”.

Timing and access issues Associated with the problem of making time available for training, other VCSE organisations noted that some training was not provided at convenient times or locations: “Time out from the working day. Most training takes place in working hours and we need to rely on supply cover which has an impact on our finances”. “Courses being available when required, within 10/20 mile travelling distance max. Finding staff cover to release staff for training”. “Training in our area always being on the same day, i.e. Tuesdays (one of our staff members as another part-time job on Tuesdays so cannot attend training)” Identifying and finding the right courses and training Some organisations had problems with finding suitable training for their staff and volunteers: “identifying suitable training for the level”, “finding suitable training” and “locating the right thing for our volunteers”. Obtaining higher level skills and qualifications Several organisations noted that there were particular issues around accessing higher levels of training because of the cost, time and staff requirements. The concerns raised included the need for a loan for a level 5 qualification, “University has become so prohibitively expensive”, and “finding the time to give to leadership training.”

It is worth noting that there was general consensus that, if the money and time were available, then for most of the organisations interviewed there was appropriate, high quality training provision available either locally or within the South West. (This reflected the findings noted in the previous section concerning levels of satisfaction with the availability of suitable training for both staff and volunteers). The main exceptions to this were for some organisations on the Isles of Scilly and some others with very specific sector related training and skills requirements (rather than the generic skills sets issues).




37

5. FUTURE EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS AND TRAINING NEEDS

This chapter looks at the future skills and training needs of VCSE organisations over the next five years in the context of anticipated changes to the organisations. The first section of the chapter examines the anticipated changes to the organisations themselves before the subsequent section discusses the skills and training needs.

5.1 Anticipated changes to VCSE organisations over next five years

The VCSE organisations were asked about potential changes to key components of their organisation over the next five years in terms of the:

Number of employed staff;

Salaries/wages;

Number of volunteers; and

Financial turnover. Chart 5.1 shows their answers and, given the changes through which the sector has undergone in recent years, it is striking that around half of organisations said that things would be “roughly the same” for all four components. Nonetheless, around one in three thought that there would be growth in each of the components, albeit mostly only limited growth. Around one in eight organisations thought that there would be decreases in their employee numbers and turnover (12%) over that period. Chart 5.1 Anticipated changes to organisation over next five years (%)

4%

2%

1%

3%

8%

6%

7%

9%

52%

56%

52%

53%

25%

28%

23%

21%

5%

2%

6%

5%

6%

5%

12%

10%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Number of employees

Salaries and wages

Number of volunteers

Financial turnover

Significantly less Somewhat less Roughly the same

Somewhat more Significantly more Don't know

Turnover and volunteer base: 452 VCSE organisations Salaries and employees base: 202 VCSE organisations with employees answering question




38

The organisations who thought that there would be growth in their employee numbers over the next five years were asked about the main roles or occupations in which more employees would be needed. A very wide range of answers were given which have been summarised into eleven main categories on chart 5.2 below. (N.B. Organisations were able to give more than one answer, so the categories add to more than 100% in total). Chart 5.2 Anticipated requirements for employees over next five years (%)

Base: 61 VCSE organisations anticipating more employees in next five years (more than one answer allowed) Unsurprisingly, over half of the organisations (56%) who said that more employees would be needed indicated that these would be required in their front line roles, covering the variety of services and support they were providing to their core clients and customers. Some typical answers included:

“Front line key workers to support individuals one to one with crisis management initiated by Universal Credit” “Front line delivery – tutors, consultants” “Childcare providers / nursery nurses” “Counsellors - one stop shop stuff, identify problem and pass it on, drug/ alcohol/ issues, jobs related” “Customer facing people” “Skilled group facilitators and community workers”

Closely related to this requirement for delivery staff was the identified need for project and contract managers to oversee and coordinate the delivery. One in five of the organisations (19%) who said that more employees would be needed indicated that project/contract managers would be required, while more than a quarter said that admin, “back office”, support staff would be required in the next five years.




39

It is worth emphasising that three of the next most commonly mentioned roles and occupations that would be required were related to the financial issues facing the sector: fundraisers (16%), marketers (13%) and bid writers (6%). Some comments made this group of VCSE organisations included:

“All this depends on winning tenders that will be coming out in the next few years…we will need a bid writer” “Fundraising: Looking at innovative ways of diversifying our income” “Marketing and fundraising to keep us going!”

One in eight organisations (12%) who would be looking for employees in the next five years said that a senior manager would be required, though this was often caveated by indicating that this manager would be a replacement for an existing staff member who would be retiring or leaving, rather than being a new staff member. Smaller proportions of organisations mentioned very specific roles that would be required, such as bookkeepers, IT staff, caretakers, grounds men, etc.

5.2 Key skills and training requirements in next five years All of the organisations included in the survey were asked:

“Looking to the future, please think about how your organisation might change in the next five years. What do you think will be the key skills needs and training requirements for your organisation in the next 5 years?”

Five areas emerged as the most commonly mentioned skills requirements:


ICT skills;


Interagency working/collaboration; and

Safeguarding. Before discussing each of these five areas in more detail it is worth noting that the VCSE organisations answering the question clearly framed their answers on the basis of the skills and expertise of their current staff. That is, they identified the areas in which their current staff would need “up-skilling” or additional training to meet the anticipated challenges of the next five years, rather than areas in which they would bring in new staff members who already had the skills to meet the challenges. This is, of course, an entirely pragmatic and realistic reaction to the financial constraints under which many were operating. Turning to each of the five key areas:




40

Bid writing/tendering/grant applications/funding and fundraising This was the single most commonly mentioned skills requirement and was closely linked with both the decrease in public sector funding that the sector is experiencing and recognition of the need to compete against private sector companies who were felt to have more commercial and entrepreneurial “nous”. Some commonly given answers were:

“How to win new contracts against the big boys” “Changing our focus to access funding (that has been withdrawn)” “Funding becoming harder and harder to secure… We will be needing to learn how to secure funding in Europe” “Grant sourcing and bid writing”

ICT skills The IT skills that were required fell mainly into two categories:

- Specific skills relating to the work of the VCSE: “To use our IT to better advantage in communicating with families, such as via social media”, “IT skills for fundraising online and marketing” and “(training was needed for) keeping up to date with the technical requirements for our work”.

- Generic ones: “This is a problematic area with so many volunteers being over 70 and having no IT skills”, “We need basic computer literacy” and “IT competence in communication and usage”.

Management, governance and leadership skills The skills that were more commonly mentioned as being needed by VCSE sector leaders either related to the challenges and changes being faced by the sector overall or to the issues being faced by individual organisations as they sought to maintain and develop themselves in a difficult climate. Some typical answers included:

“Effective change management” “Leadership in challenging times” “Management and organisational training to help the directors” “As we grow we will need to either promote or bring in a management tier and will need to gain more skills in this area”

Interagency working/collaboration The “need” to collaborate and work with other VCSE and public agencies or even the private sector, was often identified, but it was unclear as to whether respondents were thinking of specific training that they would need or simply acknowledging the fact that they would need to accept that such cooperation was likely to be integral to survival. Answers included:

“Co-operative and collaborative multiagency work” “Working together rather than in competition” “How to approach companies and working with them as a team to deliver”




41

Safeguarding Training in safeguarding was identified by a considerable number of respondents as being the single key skills area for them, clearly related to their service and clients, though it was noted that this was a statutory requirement in order to remain compliant. Answers included:

“Statutory training for volunteers and staff around safeguarding, risk assessment, health and safety, first aid” “Childcare and development EYFS OSTEAD, safeguarding and welfare” “On-going childcare training (paediatric first aid, safeguarding, EYFS etc.)” “Compliance around safeguarding, Health & safety, etc.”

When considering these five areas it should be noted that broadly similar number of respondents also stated that they did not anticipate having any skills needs over the next five years. Many of the VCSE organisations giving this answer were small, local groups or individuals providing voluntary support and assistance to their local community in a range of ways, such as by running the village hall, local groups, etc. However there were also larger VCSE organisations who gave this answer and this reflects the findings reported earlier that both nine out of ten VCSE organisations were satisfied with the skills and knowledge of their current staff and that over half felt that their staff numbers would “stay roughly the same” over the next five years.




42

6. CONCLUDING COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents concluding comments on the key findings from the research before finishing with a set of recommendations covering workforce development in the VCSE sector in CIoS over the next five years and suggested further research to inform sector support and guidance.

6.1 Concluding comments Sector Activity Overview The research found that the VCSE sector in CIoS is active in an enormously wide range of spheres: many targeted on the cross cutting themes of equalities and the environment. Three quarters of the organisations in the sector are involved in direct delivery of services (75%) and are locally based, independent organisations (79%).

The principal areas of VCSE activity focus on health, social care, welfare and education issues (42%), with many of the clients and beneficiaries of these activities being local disadvantaged and minority groups. These are in common with the sector nationally and within CIoS historically; and

Further significant levels of VCSE activity also take place in the fields of culture and the arts, sports and leisure and the environment. Again these are in common with the activities of the sector both nationally and historically within CIoS.

Employment Paid employment in the VCSE sector currently stands at c.22,300 representing c.9% of the total CIoS workforce compared with c.3% nationally and 7% in 2008. There is evidence to suggest that this figure may have been higher in the 2010-2011 period, but that since then the impacts of austerity have led to reductions in staffing numbers24. In terms of the demographic characteristics, working patterns, qualifications and salaries of the paid staff the key findings were:

Women make up the majority of the workforce: 70% of paid VCSE staff are female, compared with 68% nationally and 76% in 2008;

Around half (47%) are full time, compared with 62% nationally and 42% in 2008, reflecting the different profile of employment status in CIoS;

Half of senior managers have to be qualified to a minimum of NVQ Level 4 (50%), as do a quarter of delivery level staff (25%);

Salaries are well below the national and local averages, with some VCSE organisations potentially paying entry level staff less than the minimum wage; and

Two thirds of the workforce being aged between 25 and 49 (67%) and a quarter (25%) aged 50+, with fewer than one in ten (8%) being under 25.

24 UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011, Ibid p22




43

Volunteers The research found that there are c.153,000 volunteers in CIoS, representing over one in three people in the adult population of 423,000 in CIoS (36%). This finding is very similar to the 34% reported in 2008, but because of the increase in the size of the adult population over that time represents c.20,000 more volunteers now. In terms of their demographic characteristics and period of engagement, the key findings were:

Three fifths of the volunteers are women (62%) – an almost identical proportion to that reported in 2008 and very similar to the figure reported nationally by NCVO (57%)25;

Less than one in seven volunteers are under 25 (15%), while two fifths are aged between 25 and 49 (38%) and nearly half are aged 50 or over (47%), compared with 6%, 54% and 40% respectively in 2008;

7% of volunteers are people with a disability, compared with 3% in 2008;


1% are from a Black or minority ethnic community – the same as in 2008;

Nine out of ten VCSE organisations with volunteers (92%) said that the volunteers stayed a year or more on average. A similar proportion of organisations (93%) said this length of time suited them.

Economic activity The annual turnover of the VCSE sector as a whole in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is of the order of £580m million making it one of the largest sectoral contributors to the local economy. Combined with its role as a very major employer, the value of the VCSE sector to the economic wellbeing of CIoS is therefore highly significant. The size and scale of the VCSE sector has increased markedly since the previous research in 2007, when the sector had turnover of £390m and employed 17,120. This new level of magnitude reflects both the growth of the VCSE sector nationally and the particular importance of the sector in CIoS. Many VCSE organisations work in areas that contribute directly to local economic regeneration priorities, such as:

Providing support/resources for local communities and groups (25%);

The social care/welfare and health/wellbeing areas (24%); and

Education, pre-school and school aged children (16%).

The three most important sources of finance for VCSE organisations are:

Fundraising (53% of all VCSE organisations);

Fees and charges from the private sector (40%); and

External grants from the public sector, local or central government (32%).

25 Participation: trends, facts and figures: An NCVO Almanac, NCVO, March 2011 (p21)




44

In addition to the direct economic contribution of its turnover, it is very important to note the economic value of the volunteering efforts across CIoS, with c.83% of volunteers giving up to 10 hours of their time a week and a further c.17% volunteering for more than 10 hours. This level of volunteering is:

Worth over £490 million to the Cornish economy each year; and

Equates to at least 23,500 full-time equivalent employees. These figures indicate that the value of volunteering to the Cornish economy has increased by around £100 million since 2007. Employment Forecasting 30% of VCSE organisations said that there would be somewhat or significantly more employed staff in their organisations over the next five years. These employees would be needed in the following main occupations:

Front line and delivery occupations (56%);

Administration, “back office”, support staff (26%); and

Project and contract managers (19%). Of course these occupations to a large extent closely reflected the current staff profile of many delivery and client focussed VCSE organisations. Encouragingly some organisations also mentioned the need for new employees with the skills to generate income to help grow or sustain their organisations, such as fundraisers (16%), marketers (13%) and bid writers (6%) or to lead their organisations such as Senior Managers (12%). It is worth emphasising however, that half of VCSE organisations did not think that there would be much change in employment numbers over the next five years – 52% saying that they would be “roughly the same”, while nearly one in eight said that employee numbers would decline over this period (12%). Current Training Over eight out of ten VCSE organisations (82%) said that they provided training for their staff and half for their volunteers (54%). Much of this training is relatively limited in scope: lasting between 1 to 5 days a year for both full time employees (59%) and part time employees (72%), with only half being accredited (52%). The VCSE organisations that were currently providing training for their paid staff described the main focus of the training as being:

Child protection/safeguarding;

Compliance;

Continuing Professional Development; and

First Aid, Food Hygiene and Health and Safety. Very similar areas were reported for the training being provided to volunteers.




45

Among the VCSE organisations who have paid staff and currently provide training for them, only two fifths have a training budget (39%). This proportion is substantially lower than that reported in 2007 of around half (54%) and the national figure reported in 2010 by NCVO of two thirds (64%). This finding is of great concern to the future development and wellbeing of the sector. Furthermore, the average amount being spent per head on training is also lower than that reported previously and nationally. The single biggest challenge being faced by all parts of the VCSE sector in providing or accessing training is cost. Over eight out of ten of all VCSE organisations (85%) cited cost as the biggest problem: “Funding! If we had more funding for training we would be training our staff in more specific skills” being a typical comment. Future Skills Needs When asked about their skills requirements and needs over the next five years, the research identified five key areas:


Interagency working/collaboration;


Safeguarding; and

ICT skills. What was interesting about these areas was their coverage of the various diverse challenges facing the sector: firstly in terms of the recognition of the need for the sector to be able to win work to sustain itself; secondly, the need to collaborate to do this (and to deliver) more effectively; thirdly, the need to better manage and run itself in challenging times; fourthly, the compliance and safety requirements for much of the delivery work of the sector; and fifthly, the need to drive ICT skills improvements across all staffing levels – from basic ICT usage to working in more advanced and client specific areas. Furthermore, it was also very noticeable how most of these identified future skills needs were focussed on or needed at Senior Management Levels. The majority of the main occupations and roles in which VCSE organisations thought new employees would be needed in the next five years were at the delivery, front line and administration levels. However, most of the future skills needs identified were in areas that Senior Management would need to take the lead in both for acquiring new skills themselves and implementing on an organisation wide basis, such as initiating and then effectively establishing collaborative partnership working. This indicated that there was clear recognition among many VCSE organisations that Senior Management needed to improve its skill base to lead the sector forward to both sustain itself and increase levels of productivity.




46

6.2 Recommendations

This section presents a set of recommendations for addressing the key skills, training and organisational development issues identified by the research. These have been shaped by the need for the VCSE sector to maintain and increase its already very significant contribution to the local economy by focusing on:

Increasing productivity and efficiency by enhancements to current skills and training provision at all levels of the VCSE workforce;

Providing improved and challenging career progression opportunities for all levels of the VCSE workforce;

Helping to enable VCSE organisations to maximise their inherent potential through greater collaboration and effective leadership and governance; and

Ensuring the wealth of knowledge and expertise held by the sector on key societal issues such as education, health, wellbeing and social care is used to the greatest value and widest benefit.

The recent period of austerity through which society and the VCSE sector has gone, involving budget cuts, changes in service delivery models and commissioning processes, has left many VCSE organisations in a state of flux. While austerity has resulted in many difficult challenges for the VCSE organisations, it also clear that there are significant opportunities for those who are able to adapt in order to succeed in the “new” environment in which they now operate. In this context, the recommendations are grouped under five main headings, though it should be noted some of the proposals under each heading are cross cutting and appear under several of the headings:

1. Ensuring VSCE staff and volunteers are highly skilled; 2. Enabling access to training for VCSE organisations; 3. Improving senior management skills; 4. Greater collaboration; and 5. Increasing awareness and evidence of VCSE value.

Recommendation 1: Ensuring VSCE staff and volunteers are highly skilled For the VCSE sector to develop to fully meet its potential, it needs a highly skilled and adaptable workforce. Given the funding constraints and associated delivery and time pressures being felt by the sector, together with the comparatively low levels of minimum qualifications required for many VCSE staff levels, the key approaches needed to address the main skills issues identified by the research include:

Apprenticeship level entry programmes;

Project Management skills training;

Senior Management leadership and business skills training;

IT and Digital skills training;

More accredited volunteer training and qualifications; and

Greater information and advice on skills training opportunities available.




47

Recommendation 2: Enabling access to training It is important to emphasise that the key issue for most VCSE organisation in having staff and volunteers highly skilled remains the cost of training. As such all means of improving access to existing provision by minimising costs should be considered:

A training brokerage system to enable to VCSE organisations to reduce the cost of training by joint purchasing;

Intra and cross sector job swap and mentoring to enable on the job training and skills advancement;

Maximising and promoting the use of online training opportunities particularly for transferable and IT related skills; and

Focusing available training budgets on the key skills required for ensuring compliance/safeguarding and improving productivity and efficiency.

The introduction of subsidised or free training in key VCSE skills areas would address the cost issue for the sector directly. However, considerable investigation would be needed to assess: firstly, how it could be funded (via European funds and/or private sector support?) and secondly, if funding was secured, who would be eligible to receive it and how could market distortions be avoided.

Recommendation 3: Improving Senior Management skills With the sector in a state of flux and facing a “perfect storm” as described by several stakeholders, it is essential that it has well trained and suitably qualified leaders to take it forward. There are various key areas for progressing the sector:

Business skills, financial planning, procurement and contract management;

Leadership and governance, including strategic planning and sector advocacy;

Human resource and volunteer management; and

Marketing and communications. Recommendation 4: Greater collaboration There are a wide range of key issues on which the VCSE sector needs to collaborate more effectively both internally (with other VCSE partners) and externally (with the Public and Private sectors). These include, but are not limited to:

Providing improved career enhancement and progression opportunities through collaborative mentoring, secondment and job swap programmes;

Strengthened bid writing, tender submission and grant applications through joint tendering and procurement partnerships;

Improved knowledge transfer, delivery support and service development between VCSE organisations;

Sharing back office and administration costs by means of flexible and innovative working arrangements; and

Joint leadership and management programme, specifically designed to address the challenges being faced across the sector.




48

Recommendation 5: Increasing awareness and evidence of VCSE value Clearly demonstrating and evidencing the economic, social and environmental value of the VCSE sector to CIoS will be an integral part of ensuring the sustainability and growth of the sector in the future. Key aspects of this include:

Sector leaders speaking with a clear collective voice ensuring the needs of the sector are fully taken on board in emerging development plan and strategies for CIoS;

Engagement with all sections of the community to ensure wide awareness and understanding of the role and value of VCSE;

Effectively measuring and demonstrating social value and return; and

Demonstration of wider benefits of direct service provision and volunteering activities across communities and local areas.

6.3 Suggestions for further research

The study identified several areas in which further research would be helpful:

o Fully mapping the small, local VCSE organisations This research mapped out the 4,525 VCSE organisations and groups who can be found via formal and informal registration sites, gatekeepers, networks and sector representatives. However, there are an estimated further c.1,500 small, local organisations that are not registered or affiliated to existing links. Research is needed to fully document these groups as well.

o Exploring further training for volunteers

The research found evidence of a lack of full training for volunteers among some VCSE organisations: nearly half of those with volunteers did not train them (46%) and half of the training that was provided was not accredited (47%). Further research is required to unpick this – exploring whether cost is the only issue or whether other factors are at play as well.

o Investigating the use of subsidised or free training

In order to ascertain whether the use of free or subsidised training is a realistic or viable proposition for the sector, further research is needed to assess how it could be funded, what the training could cover, who would be eligible to receive it and how market distortions could be avoided. Crucially, the criteria for relevant European funding needs to be fully explored.

o Career and skills progression maps for key VCSE sub-sectors The production of skills maps for all the key VCSE sub-sectors, highlighting main jobs and levels of qualification mapped onto the relevant job specific skills sets and associated attributes with clear reference to the particular requirements of the VCSE sector would be a very useful tool both for each sub-sector, but also cross sector in identifying joint skills needs and gaps.




49

Appendix I: Headline Findings for Social Purpose Businesses Key points to note about findings for Social Purpose Businesses: As noted in the introduction, the mapping exercise conducted for this research covered formal and informal registration sites, gatekeepers, networks and sector representatives and identified 4,525 VCSE organisations and groups in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. A separate mapping exercise conducted by SERCO/Peninsula Enterprise identified a total of 1,094 Social Purpose Businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. To produce headline findings for Social Purpose Businesses the following definition was used:

Community Interest Companies (CICs);

Organisation registered as Charities AND Companies Limited by Guarantee;

Companies Limited by Guarantee only; and

Industrial and Provident Societies.

Please note that this definition is not the same as for Social Enterprises. For that reason, further research will be carried out in January 2014 to identify how many of these Social Purpose Businesses can be classified as Social Enterprises. In particular, some registered charities that are also businesses may not trade or hold contracts, may be reliant on grant income and would not self-identify as social enterprises. The sample survey conducted for this research collected information from 452 VCSE organisations through online questionnaires and telephone interviews, of which 91 (20%) can be classified as Social Purpose Businesses using the definition above. (36 of the 91 were community interest companies (CICs). The 91 represents c.8% of the identified population of 1,094 and for an answer of 50% provides a survey accuracy of +/-9.8% at the 95% confidence level. For an answer of 90% the interval decreases to +/-5.9%. On the basis that CICs make up c.40% (i.e. 36/91) of the identified population, then an answer of 50% for them provides a survey accuracy of +/-15.8% at the 95% confidence level. For an answer of 90% the interval decreases to +/-9.9%. The answers given by the 91 Social Purpose Businesses are grossed up to the total of 1,094 to provide estimates for the sub-sector as a whole. There are several points to note when considering the implications of this:

The comparatively small sample size means that the confidence intervals are high at =/- 9.8%; and

The SE sub-sector is significantly affected by the scale of the Eden Project with a turnover of c.£30m and c.500 employees.

The answers given by the 36 CICs are grossed up to a total of 450 to provide an estimates for CICs as a whole.

Size and structure of Social Purpose Businesses: There are approximately 1,100 Social Purpose Businesses in CIoS.

These organisations are markedly larger than the rest of the VCSE sector in terms of turnover: having an average annual turnover of c.£250,000. The highest single annual turnover is £31 million and the median income is £104,000 per year;

CICs have an average turnover of c.£109,000;




50

The annual turnover of Social Purpose Businesses exceeds £280m million, of which CICs account for c.£70m million;

Virtually all CICs are local, independent organisations; and

20% are “umbrellas” assisting or supporting other organisations.

Areas of work and clients: The three most important areas of work for Social Purpose Businesses:

o The social care/welfare or health/wellbeing areas (36%); o Education and training (13%); and o Providing support and resources for their community or local groups

(11%);

The three single most important areas of work for CIoS CICs are: o The social care/welfare or health/wellbeing areas (38%); o Education and training (19%); o Culture/arts (14%)

The main clients for CIoS Social Purpose Businesses are: o No particular groups of people (25%); o Jobless people (11%); and o Pre-school children (9%).

The main clients for CIoS CICs are no particular groups of people (32%).

Employees: 13,200 people currently work for Social Purpose Businesses in CIoS. This is c.5%

of the total workforce26;

Of this total, approximately 3,600 work in CICs;

These figures demonstrate that, reflecting their greater turnover, these organisations have on average more employees per organisation (12) than organisations in the rest of the VCSE sector (3);

CICs have on average c.8 employees per organisation;

Two thirds (62%) of the workforce are women and 38% men; and

Half of the workforce are full time and half part time.

Volunteering and Social Purpose Businesses: There are c. 30,000 people volunteering for Social Purpose Businesses (out of

the c.153,000 people volunteering in CIoS);

This represents a slightly lower average of volunteers per organisation (c.27) than the average for the rest of the VCSE sector (c.36);

CICs had c.6,000 volunteers representing fewer volunteers per organisation – an average of c.13;

Seven out of ten SE volunteers spend up to 10 hours a week volunteering for SEs (70%) and three tenths more than 10 hours (30%); and

Two thirds of SPB volunteers are women (69%).

26 Based on 248,300 total employees and self-employed cited in CIoS Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion Evidence Base, CIoS Local Economic Partnership 2013 (p19)




51

Appendix II: Questionnaire

Section 1. Introduction and background to organisation INTERVIEWER STRESS THE FOLLOWING, AS NECESSARY; • The survey collects information about nature, scale, economic value and income of the Sector. It also assesses the needs of the sector across the county. • We would like to talk to the senior person responsible for the organisation/branch/office. • The interview will take no more than 20-25 minutes to complete. • All answers given will be completely confidential and used to produce combined statistics. • A specially selected sample of VCSEs in Cornwall are being asked to participate in the survey. • Your participation is important because we need to get a representative picture across all VCSEs in the county - in order to focus resources where they can most help • Participation is entirely voluntary, but we do hope that you will help. • The name of a contact for queries at the VSF Cornwall is Amanda Rundle on 01872 241584 1.1 Willing to participate: Yes/no ASK ALL YES 1.2 I would like to start with a few general questions about the organisation first. Can I just confirm, (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…) is …READ OUT AND CODE FIRST TO APPLY… …part of a national organisation? …a local independent organisation? …or something else (PLEASE SPECIFY_______)? ASK ALL 1.3 What is (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…)’s single most important activity?… INTERVIEWER READ OUT: CODE ONE ONLY… …Direct service provision? …Information/advice? …Advocacy/campaigning? …Training/skills? …Something else (PLEASE STATE__________)? ASK ALL 1.4 Is your organisation an “umbrella organisation” which assists other voluntary organisations? Yes/No? ASK ALL 1.5 And is (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…) a… …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT AND CODE ONE ONLY… …Registered charity or trust only? …Company limited by guarantee only? …Registered charity and company limited by guarantee? …Community Interest Company (CIC)? …Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)? …Unincorporated organisation (not for private profit)? …Industrial and Provident Society (co-operative)? …or something else (PLEASE SPECIFY_______)?




52

ASK ALL 1.6 Can I just confirm, what is (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…)’s single most important field of work …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT AND CODE ONE ONLY… …Social care/welfare? …Health and wellbeing? …Culture/arts …Sports/leisure/recreation? …Education? …Support/resources for community groups? …Pre-school children? …School aged children (up to 16)? …Young people aged 16 to 24? …Housing /homelessness? …Environment? …(Ex-)Offender management? …Something else (PLEASE STATE__________)? ASK ALL 1.7 And which groups of people are the MAIN CLIENTS using your services? INTERVIEWER: CODE ONE ONLY… …Pre-school children …School aged children (up to 16) …Young people aged 16 to 24 …Elderly people …People living in a particular geographic area …People with physical disabilities, learning difficulties and/or mental health issues …Jobless people …People from an ethnic minority …People with drugs, alcohol or addiction issues …Ex-offenders …Other group (WRITE IN____________) No particular group ASK ALL 1.8 Please estimate the total number of clients who use your services in a year? INTERVIEWER: WRITE IN ESTIMATED NUMBER OF CLIENTS:

Section 2. Organisation resources: staff, volunteers and turnover ASK ALL 2.1 Turning now to the staff who are employed by the organisation. How many paid staff are employed in each of the following categories…INTERVIEWER: READ OUT EACH STAFF CATEGORY (TOTAL, MEN AND WOMEN) AND WRITE IN EXACT NUMBER OF EACH… (N.B. INCLUDE PERMANENT, FULL AND PART-TIME STAFF – DO NOT INCLUDE SUBCONTRACTED, TEMPORARY STAFF, VOLUNTEERS OR VACANCIES)

Full time (30 hours or more a week)? Part time (less than 30 hours a week)?

a) Male

b) Female

Totals




53

ASK IF 1+ AT 2.1 2.2 How many of your staff are …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT EACH AGE CATEGORY AND WRITE IN NUMBER FOR EACH…

a) …Under 25 years old? b) …25-49 years old? c) …Over 50 years?

ASK IF 1+ AT 2.1 2.3 In order to help us assess the value of the VCSE sector to the local economy, it would be very helpful if you are able to give a general indication of the average pay and the required minimum qualification level for staff at different levels… INTERVIEWER: READ OUT EACH STAFF CATEGORY AND WRITE IN…

Is there a minimum qualification level? (IF YES: What level?)

Average FTE (per year) £?

a) …Entry level staff?

b) …Delivery/front line staff?

c) …Senior managers?

ASK ALL 2.4 How many volunteers does the organisation currently have in total? …INTERVIEWER: WRITE IN NUMBER…(N.B. EXCLUDE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS, TRUSTEES, ETC) Total number: ASK IF 1+ AT 2.4 2.5 How many of these volunteers, give …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT EACH CATEGORY AND WRITE IN NUMBER FOR EACH…

a) …Up to 10 hours a week volunteering? b) …More than 10 hours a week volunteering?

ASK IF 1+ AT 2.4 2.6 How many of your volunteers are from the following groups… INTERVIEWER: READ OUT EACH VOLUNTEER CATEGORY AND WRITE IN NUMBER FOR EACH…

a) …Under 25 years old? b) …25-49 years old? c) …Over 50 years? d) …Women? e) …Have a disability? f) …Unemployed? g) …From a black or minority ethnic community?

ASK IF 1+ AT 2.4 2.7 About how long do most of your volunteers stay with your organisation? …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT AND CODE ONE ONLY…

…a few weeks, …a few months, …about a year, …or more than a year?




54

ASK IF 1+ AT 2.4 2.8 Does this length of time meet the needs of your organisation? …Yes/No ASK ALL 2.9 How many management committee members, trustees, etc does the organisation currently have in total? …INTERVIEWER: WRITE IN NUMBER…Total number: ASK ALL 2.10 I would now like to ask about finances and sources of funding. Firstly, what is the (estimated) annual financial turnover of (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…)? INTERVIEWER: WRITE IN (ESTIMATED) TURNOVER: £ ASK ALL 2.11 Has (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…)’s annual turnover this year compared to last year? …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT AND CODE FIRST TO APPLY…

…increased, decreased or stayed the same? ASK ALL 2.12 And has (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…)’s caseload this year compared to last year? …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT AND CODE FIRST TO APPLY…

…increased, decreased or stayed the same? ASK ALL 2.13 What are (…INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION…)’s three main sources of finance? Please choose from the following list, where 1 = most important 2 = second most important and 3 = next most important …INTERVIEWER: READ OUT LIST AND RANK TOP THREE… …Direct selling to the public: goods/services, …Fund raising (retail, collections, donations), …External grants – public sector (inc. local and central govt), …External grants – private sector …Fees/charges – public sector (inc. local and central govt), …Fees/charges – private sector …Contracts/service agreements – public sector (inc. local/central govt), …Contracts/service agreements – private sector, …In kind contributions, …Other public sector sources (Please specify___________), or …Other private sector sources (Please specify___________)?

Section 3. Skills training and development ASK IF 1+ AT 2.1 3.1 Turning now to training and development for your staff and volunteers. Firstly, do you currently provide training for your (paid) staff? (IF YES CODE: Average no. of days per year?) For full-time staff 0 1-5 days 6+ days For part-time staff 0 1-5 days 6+ days




55

ASK IF ANY 1+ AT 3.1 3.2 Can I just check, is this training for staff run by…INTERVIEWER: READ AND CODE ALL THAT APPLY…

…staff of your organisation? Yes/No …an external company or organisation(s)? Yes/No …or both? Yes/No

ASK IF ANY YES AT 3.1 3.3 What proportion of this training for staff is accredited? …INTERVIEWER: CODE % ASK IF ANY YES AT 3.1 3.4 What is the main focus of this training for staff?…INTERVIEWER: WRITE IN: ASK IF 1+ AT 2.4 3.5 Do you currently provide training for your volunteers? Yes/No ASK IF YES AT 3.5 3.6 What proportion of this training for volunteers is accredited? …INTERVIEWER: CODE % ASK IF YES AT 3.5 3.7 What is the main focus of this training for volunteers?…INTERVIEWER: WRITE IN: ASK ALL 3.8 Does (ADD IF PART OF A NATIONAL ORGANISATION AT 1.2: this local branch of ) (…name of organisation…) have a training budget? Yes/No ASK IF “YES” AT 3.8 3.9 Can you estimate how much this currently is in one year? INTERVIEWER WRITE IN:_________ ASK IF 1+ AT 2.1 OR 1+ AT 2.4 3.10 To help us understand the training issues faced by (…name of organisation…) can you say how satisfied you are with each of the following at the moment. Are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with: …Accessing suitable training for your employed staff? …The skills and knowledge of your current employed staff? ASK IF 1+ AT 2.4 …Accessing suitable training for your volunteers? …The skills and knowledge of your current volunteers?

ASK IF 1+ AT 2.1 OR 1+ AT 2.4 3.11 What is the biggest challenge (…name of organisation…) faces in providing or accessing training now? INTERVIEWER WRITE IN: PROMPT AS NECESSARY 1: Is any (required) training provision missing now? PROMPT AS NECESSARY 2: What are the main training requirements of management staff?




56

Section 4. Future employment, skills and training ASK ALL 4.1 Looking to the future, please think about how (…name of organisation…) might change in the next five years. What do you think will be the key skills needs and training requirements for (…name of organisation…) in the next 5 years? INTERVIEWER WRITE IN: ASK ALL 4.2 For each of the following matters, can you say on a scale of 1-5 where: 1 = significantly less 2 = somewhat less 3 = roughly the same 4 = somewhat more 5 = significantly more How do you think (…name of organisation…) will change in the next 5 years in terms of INTERVIEWER: READ OUT EACH CATEGORY AND CODE 1 TO 5 FOR EACH …

In next 5 years

…The number of employed staff?

…Salaries/wages?

…The number of Volunteers?

…Financial turnover?

ASK IF 4 OR 5 AT Q4.2 NUMBER OF EMPLOYED STAFF 4.3 In which main occupation or role do you think more employed staff will be needed in the next 5 years? INTERVIEWER WRITE IN ONE MAIN OCCUPATION/ROLE:

Section 5. Thanks ASK ALL 5.1 Thank you for taking part in the study. Everything that you have said will be treated in the strictest confidence and will only be used to help VSF Cornwall to develop strategies to best further the interests of the sector. INTERVIEWER: THANK AGAIN AND CLOSE




57

Appendix III: Bibliography and Sources Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion Evidence Base Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Economic Partnership, 2013 Valuing the Voluntary Sector: Impact of Objective One Funds on VCS in Cornwall 2000-2007 Perfect Moment, 2008 http://www.cornwallvsf.org/resources/research-publications/

UK Civil Society Almanac 2012 NVCO, Third Sector Skills and Third Sector Research Centre, 2012 http://data.ncvo.org.uk/

UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011 NVCO, Third Sector Skills and Third Sector Research Centre, 2011 http://www.skills-thirdsector.org.uk/documents/The_UK_Voluntary_Workforce_Almanac_2011.pdf

Participation: trends, facts and figures: An NCVO Almanac NCVO, March 2011 http://www.ncvo.org.uk/policy-and-research/vol-sector-workforce/what-research-tells-us

The People’s Business - State of Social Enterprise Survey 2013 Social Enterprise UK and RBS, 2013 http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/uploads/files/2013/07/the_peoples_business.pdf

A National Skills Framework for the Voluntary Sector, Delivering the Skills Priorities Third Sector Skills, 2010 http://www.skills-thirdsector.org.uk/research_policy/skills_strategy_consultation/

Census 2011, Key Statistics and Quick Statistics for local authorities in the United Kingdom http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-327143

How big is a typical voluntary organisation? NCVO, 2013


Are Big Charities Becoming Increasingly Dominant? Third Sector Research Centre Working Papers, 2010 http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/tsrc/index.aspx

Have you got what it takes? Working with the voluntary community and social enterprise sector, Home Office www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117402/voluntary-and-social-enterprise.pdf


http://www.cornwallvsf.org/resources/research-publications/

http://data.ncvo.org.uk/

http://www.skills-thirdsector.org.uk/documents/The_UK_Voluntary_Workforce_Almanac_2011.pdf

http://www.ncvo.org.uk/policy-and-research/vol-sector-workforce/what-research-tells-us

http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/uploads/files/2013/07/the_peoples_business.pdf

http://www.skills-thirdsector.org.uk/research_policy/skills_strategy_consultation/

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-327143





Documents

Research into the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector … · 2017-02-22 · Research into the VCSE sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 1 Executive Summary This