There is a widespread perception in the third sector that grant funding from local authorities has declined significantly. This Finance Hub-funded national research examines the real state of local authority funding, the drivers that are fuelling change and the financial, structural and developmental consequences for third sector organisations.

WHO?

Brap have been commissioned to undertake this project by the Finance Hub. The Hub is making sense of funding and finance in the Third Sector through the delivery of an integrated programme of research, development, training and information dissemination. (By third sector we refer to voluntary/community organisations and social enterprises.)

WHAT?

In recent years there have been a number of policy changes that have impacted on funding provided from Local Authorities to the third sector. Third sector organisations have responded to these changes in various ways. From August 07, Brap will be contacting a selection of Local Authorities and Third Sector organisations across the 9 English regions, to gather real evidence on the overall effect of these changes on the sector. In particular we will:

• Gather data which will help us to understand if there has been a decrease in local authority funding
• Understand how the third sector has responded to funding decreases and changes in funding type
• Analyse the implications of managing a more diverse funding base and the effect this has on delivery and quality of outcomes.

WHO IS IT FOR?

We will share the information that we collect with the organisations that participate and with others. We think that the outcomes from this project will be of particular interest to:

Funding bodies
Understanding the effect of local authority funding changes on the work of the third sector

Third Sector
Enabling organisations to understand what others are going through and to learn from the experiences of managing differing funding sources