New public management and its impact on the voluntary sector : a case study of youth unemployment services in Coventry

Voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) find themselves operating in an interesting and often contradictory environment. Whilst austerity has widened the scope of contracts they can assess, the amount of funding now available from the public sector, one of their main sources of income, has drastically reduced. This has resulted in a rapid increase in competition amongst a greater variety of providers, to secure the same funding, amongst and across sectors. At this same time greater collaboration has been advocated across all sectors, resulting in internal contradictions where they can be collaborators or competitors. Such conflicts are posing a threat to the survival of VSOs, who have been subjected to numerous external pressures. Adopting a case study approach of one Youth Service in Coventry and its network partners, the thesis relies on secondary sources, interviews and participant observation to develop its analysis. The voice and experience of voluntary sector (VS) practitioners are used, to provide an updated account of the transformation the sector has witnessed and understand how these changes are being managed in relation to delivering services to unemployed youth. Three key themes were established, which inform the research questions. The first analytic chapter establishes accountability of the voluntary sector. The second chapter focuses on competitive contracting and the third funding changes and their impact. The thesis aims to contribute to literature on case studies of voluntary sector meso management and contemporary debates around the sectors ability to still provide a valuable and unique service. The thesis concludes that increased accountability to multiple stakeholders, growing competition for contracts, emphasis on partnership working, competing objectives of different funders/providers, the short-term nature of many projects and the complexities consequent on the team building required to fulfil major projects all force a departure from delivering social values. Each factor contributes to rising costs and associated pressures, a narrative which has scarcely been explored