Delivering public services in the mixed economy of welfare: putting research into practice

Project Leader: Rob Wilson
Staff: Sue Baines
Sponsors: Economic and Social Research Council
Partners: Professor Irene Hardill, Nottingham Trent University; John Ramsey Age Concern England

This project is funded under the ESRC Impact Grants (Directive) scheme. It was awarded in response to a call for a project that would promote practical learning from research on the theme of public service delivery by the voluntary and community sector (VCS). The aims are to:

Facilitate the sharing of experience and learning between voluntary and statutory agencies
Demonstrate good practice that is, or can be made, transferable
Recommend meaningful, shared criteria for the monitoring and evaluation of policy and practice in service delivery by VCS organisations

There are three sets of tasks designed to meet these aims:

Synthesising existing research by reviewing and summarising grey literature and academic studies
Reporting case studies of service delivery by the VCS in two English regions, the North East and East Midlands
Producing resources to support effective working relationships between VCS and statutory agencies. Resources will be trialled and refined via Learning Workshops