logo
book Subscribe to our Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
    • Grassroots Fundraising Journal
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Podcasts
    • Tiny Spark
    • Women of Color in Power
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership

Nonprofit Newswire | Nonprofit Contracting in ‘Big Society’, Big Problem

Rick Cohen
October 15, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

October 10, 2010; Source: ResPublica | On the heels of the recent reports by the Urban Institute and the National Council of Nonprofits on the problems of government contracting with nonprofits in this country comes a report from the U.K. which raises similar concerns about nonprofit contracting with government under Prime Minister David Cameron’s “Big Society.”

Cameron’s Society proposal calls for nonprofits to be more involved in the delivery of public services, but as Stephen Bubb, the chair of Social Investment Business, a group that cosponsored the report notes, “the current very expensive and bureaucratic process of tendering and commissioning government contracts presents real barriers to small charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.” The report’s author, Asheem Singh of ResPublica, says that the ability of nonprofits to take on more contracting is limited by the fact that “the sector is facing a financial crisis, because it is viewed by many commissioners as a ‘Cinderella’ service.”

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

ResPublica noted that a survey of “public sector suppliers” found the number “going bust” in the first six months of 2010 rose by 50 percent compared to only 5 percent for all corporate insolvencies during the same period, which, ResPublica says, gives one “a clear picture of the challenges facing the coalition Government.”

ResPublica’s report recommends the establishment of a network of localized co-commissioning consortia for service delivery, a minimum standards framework that gives autonomy to agency heads to manage and measure their own services, a local skills exchange for identifying local opportunities for service delivery groups, and “the creation of a Big Society Bank to act as a short term financier of social enterprises aimed at developing a stronger civil society.”—Rick Cohen

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Spring_2022

You might also like
The Liberatory World We Want to Create: Loving Accountability and the Limitations of Cancel Culture
Aja Couchois Duncan and Kad Smith
Hearing Every Single Voice: Consensus, Voting, and Co-op Democracy
Anj Talley
The More You Know: Sharing Power by Sharing Information
Nicole Koch
Indigenous Creators Call for Infrastructure
Steve Dubb
Putting the “Social” Back in Social Enterprise: An Evidence-Based Approach
Reece Steinberg
What If We Owned It?
Darnell Adams

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 9th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Wage Justice, Now!

Register
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman
WOMEN OF COLOR IN POWER
Women of Color in Power

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Authentic Leadership
Reclaiming Interrupted Lineages

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Advertisers
  • Newsletters
  • Copyright

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.