The transfer of public leisure facilities towards volunteer delivery.

Geoff Nichols, Sheffield University Management SchoolDeborah Forbes, Newcastle University Business School

ESRC Festival of Social Science Event.

Research conducted in the summer of 2014, supported by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity

Structure of the afternoon• Presentation of research• speakers from practice - Sylvia Green,

RAD; Nick Ockenden, NCVO; Chris Chatten, Vice Chair, Richmondshire Leisure Trust

• Workshop – discussion – can it work • speakers from practice – Bev Cross, VAS;

Spencer Moore, CIMSPA• Concluding discussion

What is asset transfer of local leisure facilities to volunteers?• Libraries, sports centres, swimming

pools, green spaces, museums• Different combinations of paid

employees and volunteers, in asset ownership /lease, and service delivery.

• No standard model

The scale of transfer - Library staff – changes 2008-9 to 2012-13 (CIPFA, 2014)

  2008/9 2012/13  

Paid employees FTE

25,648 20,302 - 21%

Volunteers 15,894 33,808 + 112%

Why? – budget cuts

• 57% of projected government savings delivered 2010 to FY 2014/15 ….. £33bn more to be made FY 2015 – 2018/19

• Average reduction in spending power per resident per local authority 2010/11 – 2014/15 was £130.06 - uneven•Y&H, £197.24; SE £74.08•Most deprived 10% - £228.23

Why?

• Local authorities may want to empower local people

• Leisure services are not a statutory requirement [apart from an undefined amount of library provision]

• Other services are more critical• But leisure has a high political profile

It’s a sensitive issue…

• Replacing paid staff with volunteers?• Redeploying paid staff• On-going negotiations council and

Volunteer groups• Volunteer groups don’t want to say

they can’t cope• Local politics and media

Our research

• Methods• Results – positive outcomes• Results – challenges

Methods• 20 in-depth interviews with facility

managers, local authority managers, volunteers and support organisations. Between March and August 2014.

• Covered 10 facilities; including libraries, museums and sports centres; in 10 different local authorities.

• Complements Sport England guidance on how to do it. (Sport England (2014) The Community Sport Asset Transfer Toolkit)

Findings - Positive Outcomes

• Facilities have stayed open• Improved links with the local

community.• Developing volunteers and providing

benefits of social inclusion • Volunteers seek reduced running

costs, and there are reduced costs to the local authority.

Findings - Challenges

• The distribution of voluntary capacity is uneven

• The pace of budget cuts may outstrip the speed at which volunteer groups can be developed.

• Are volunteers replacing paid employees?

• Can local authority staff be redeployed

• The influence of local politics

Findings - Challenges

• The loss of government’s ability to plan strategically

• The potential loss of core skills and compromise of standards

• Are transfers sustainable?• The need for a co-operative

relationship of trust between local authorities and volunteer groups

The Future?

• New government May 2015• But cuts in expenditure likely to

continue – only experienced half of these so far.

• Make the best of the opportunities – minimize the negative impact…

The Future?• Facilities more responsive to local people

where volunteering enriches the community as a whole. Viable in the long-term

• Reflects an enhanced sense of active citizenship and responsibility

• Or a quick and unsustainable fix – which will unravel in 3 years?

• Will services survive in disadvantaged areas?

The Future?• Future research:

• Examples of successful long term volunteer management

• Examples of ‘good practice’ in volunteer development and facilitating transfer.

• Plotting the scale of transfer of facilities

References• Nichols G. and Forbes D. (2014) The transfer of public leisure facilities to

volunteer delivery http://svrn.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Nichols-and-Forbes-transfer-of-leisure-facilities-to-volunteer-delivery-20141.pdf

• The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and accountancy (2014) Library Survey http://www.cipfa.org/about-cipfa/press-office/latest-press-releases/cipfa-library-survey-shows-closures-slowing-visitor-numbers-falling-but-volunteers-soaring

• Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (2014) State of the Nation 2014: Social Mobility and child Poverty in Great Britain. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/365765/State_of_Nation_2014_Main_Report.pdf

• Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) (2014) Local authority spending cuts and the 2014 English local elections.  http://speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Brief6-local-authority-spending-cuts.pdf