The Third Sector Delivering Public Services: Developments, Innovations and Challenges

by Jenny Harlock (Contribution by), Chris Damm (Contribution by), Rebecca Taylor (Contribution by), Helen Kara (Contribution by), Malin Arvidson (Contribution by)

Overview

This important book is the first edited collection to provide an up to date and comprehensive overview of the third sector’s role in public service delivery. Exploring areas such as social enterprise, capacity building, volunteering and social value, the authors provide a platform for academic and policy debates on the topic. Drawing on research carried out at the ESRC funded Third Sector Research Centre, the book charts the historical development of the state-third sector relationship, and reviews the major debates and controversies accompanying recent shifts in that relationship. It is a valuable resource for social science academics and postgraduate students as well as policymakers and practitioners in the public and third sectors in fields such as criminal justice, health, housing and social care.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447322436
Publisher:	Policy Press
Publication date:	07/26/2016
Series:	Third Sector Research
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

James Rees is a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. His research concentrates on the role of the third sector in public service delivery, cross-sectoral partnership, organisational change and the involvement of citizens.

David Mullins is Professor of Housing Policy in the Housing and Communities Research Group at the University of Birmingham. His research interests include the role of the third sector and social enterprise in public service delivery.

Warwick Medical School
Christopher Damm is Research Fellow at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University.
Helen Kara is a leading independent researcher, author, teacher and speaker specialising in research methods, particularly creative methods, and research ethics. With over twenty years’ experience as an independent researcher Helen now teaches doctoral students and staff at higher education institutions worldwide. She is a prolific academic author with over 25 titles and 1000 citations; notably Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide and Research and Evaluation for Busy Students and Practitioners, both in their second editions. Besides her regular blogs and videos, she also writes comics and fiction. Helen is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. In 2021, at the age of 56, she was diagnosed autistic. Her neurodivergence explains her lifelong fascination with, and ability to focus on, words, language and writing.
Angela Ellis Paine is a research fellow at the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Birmingham.
John Mohan is Professor of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, and Director of the Third Sector Research Centre. He has published extensively on contemporary and historical aspects of the third sector, with a particular recent focus on analyses of volunteering and the resources and characteristics of voluntary organisations.
Pete Alcock is Professor of Social Policy and Administration at the University of Birmingham. Pete has taught and researched social policy for over thirty years, moving to Birmingham in 1998, where he has held a number of posts, including Head of the School of Social Sciences and Director of the ESRC Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC). He is author and editor of a number of leading books on social policy including The Student’s Companion to Social Policy 5e (2016). His research has covered the fields of poverty and anti-poverty policy, social security, and the role of the UK third sector. Feb 17- retired - now emeritus professor
James Rees is Reader at the Institute for Community Research and Development (ICRD) at the University of Wolverhampton.

Table of Contents

Introduction ~ James Rees and David Mullins;

Part One: Policy, Politics and Organisations;

The history of third sector service delivery in the UK ~ Pete Alcock;

Same tensions, different results? Third sector-state relations in a changing political and socio-economic context ~ Heather Buckingham;

Which third sector organisations are involved in the delivery of public services? Evidence from national survey data in England ~ John Mohan and David Clifford;

Part Two: Cross-cutting issue for third sector service delivery;

Social enterprise, mutuals and spin-outs in the era of ‘open’ public services ~ Robin Miller and Fergus Lyon;

Capacity building for competition: the role of infrastructure in third sector service delivery ~ Rob Macmillan;

The role of volunteers in service delivery ~ Angela Ellis-Paine and Matt Hill;

The concept of social value and the third sector: definitions, theories and measurements ~ Malin Arvidson and Helen Kara;

Part Three: Service delivery in key policy fields;

Understanding the third sector’s role and position in employment services provision ~ Rebecca Taylor, James Rees and Chris Damm;

All change? The impact of personalisation for the third sector in health and social care ~ Jenny Harlock and Robin Miller;

Housing and the Third Sector – Enacted hybridity and diversification ~ David Mullins;

The third sector and the rehabilitation revolution ~ Rob Macmillan;

Conclusion and the future for the Third Sector’s role in service delivery ~ James Rees and David Mullins.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"In a period of change and uncertainty this is a timely, thoughtful and challenging book for decision makers , academics and practitioners alike." Professor John Diamond, Edge Hill UniversityUK

"An excellent and wide ranging text which will be a key reference work for academics studying the role of the third sector in delivering public services in the UK." Peter Wells, Sheffield Hallam University

Editorial Reviews

An excellent and wide-ranging text which will be a key reference work for academics studying the role of the third sector in delivering public services in the United Kingdom.

Peter Wells

In a period of change and uncertainty, this is a timely, thoughtful, and challenging book for decision makers, academics, and practitioners alike.

John Diamond