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NATIONAL THIRD SECTOR SURVEY SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
1. BACKGROUND
The new national Third Sector Survey has been commissioned by the Government and is the
biggest ever survey of the `third sector`. The Survey was carried out by a national research
organisation and postal questionnaires were sent to thousands of organisations on a national
database.
The aims were:
To give an overall picture of the sector
To seek comments on the support local third sector organisations receive from
Government, local statutory partners and local support organisations (such as the local
CVS)
In addition findings from the Survey will be used:
To set baseline improvement targets for reward funding for those LSPs that have included
N17 Environment for a Thriving Third Sector (Ealing did not)
To set overall improvement targets for other LSPs – including Ealing- that did not include
this indicator (these appear to be non-binding but feedback from GOL is that they will be
assessed bi-annually through the Comprehensive Performance Assessment)
Details of the final analysis for each area and national baseline comparisons were released in May
and are available on the website of the National Statistics Office
For a copy of the full Ealing report you can e-mail Dan Paskins at ECVS (dan@ealingcvs.org.uk )
2 PURPOSE OF REPORT AND QUALIFIER
This report presents an analysis of key questions and issues in the Survey and how Ealing
compares with other West London Boroughs and national averages
The summary shows % of organisations very satisfied/satisfied, fairly unsatisfied/very unsatisfied
and plus or minus levels where relevant
Total replies and % were:
Area No of groups replying % response rate
National 48,939 47%
Ealing 286 37%
Brent 241 31%
Harrow 298 42%
Hammersmith 233 34%
Hillingdon 272 46%
Hounslow 230 40%
There are some huge qualifiers to take into account in relation to the Survey:
The Survey only covered registered charities on the national Guidestar database ie it was weighted
to larger organisations
The Survey did not include at all smaller community organisations who are not registered charities.
This especially skews the results in Ealing (which has a high number of such groups) and in
addition these tend to be the groups who receive most frequent support from the local CVS and
local funding workers
The Survey was only available in postal form and quite long-tending to be completed by larger
established groups
For most questions around 40%-50% of groups responded “not applicable” or “don’t know”-
therefore by definition lowering the headline % who were either satisfied or not satisfied
The analysis for Ealing suggests some odd skewing and which is contrary to local up to date
figures on the make-up of the Ealing voluntary sector eg
36 % of Ealing groups replying said they worked internationally and 33% nationally – this is
not representative of the overall sector
15% of Ealing groups also said international work was their main focus, 19% national
work, 47% local work, only 2% in specific neighbourhoods and 7% didn’t know !
70% of Ealing groups replying said they received no local (as opposed to national) funding
at all, 18% received funding from the Council, 5% from the PCT, 8% from the LSP or other
local partnerships, 1% from the Police-again not representative locally
Overall levels of satisfaction were (rather depressingly) low across the broad nationally-with
Government departments, local councils, other partners (such as PCTs) - and with local CVS and
other voluntary sector support projects. This is in part technical- for most questions 40%+ did not
reply or did not know- by definition reducing the remaining % satisfied or disatisfied
Nevertheless and with all the qualifiers above:
Nearly 300 Ealing groups replied- a substantial sample
Some of the qualifiers -and that a majority of groups simply didn’t reply or didn’t know to
most questions - also apply to all areas nationally
Taking all this the real issue and picture is not so much absolute levels of satisfaction but
how Ealing compares to other neighbouring boroughs and to national averages
On most measures –statutory and VCS- Ealing performed better than other neighbouring
West London boroughs
It is important local partners consider the findings and analysis- since the Government will
use this in future local assessments
3 ANALYSIS OF THE SECTOR/SAMPLE
In terms of Ealing groups replying they indicated their key users were (some covered several):
Key users/beneficiaries %
General public / everyone 31%
Women 20%
Men 16%
Older people 17%
Children (aged 15 or under 23%
Young people (aged 16 to 24) 18%
People with physical disabilities and / or special 8%
needs
People with particular physical health needs 6%
People with mental health needs 4%
People from Black and Minority Ethnic 19%
communities
People with a particular financial need 8%
(including poverty)
Asylum seekers / refugees 5%
Homeless people 2%
People with addiction problems (e.g. alcohol, 1%
drugs)
Faith communities 11%
Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people 1%
Socially excluded / vulnerable people 8%
Victims of crime and their families 0%
Offenders, ex-offenders and their families 1%
Other third sector organisations 5%
Animals 0%
Other/Cannot say/No answer provided 13%
In terms of Ealing groups replying they indicated their key areas of activity/services were:
Area of activity/services %
Community development 12%
Cohesion / civic participation 6%
Culture and leisure (including arts, music, sport 29%
and recreation)
Economic development, 12%
employment and relief of poverty
Accommodation/housing 9%
Education and lifelong learning 28%
Training 12%
Environment / sustainability 2%
Equalities / civil rights (e.g. gender, race, 4%
disabilities)
Heritage 3%
Health and well-being 19%
International development (e.g. overseas aid, 8%
famine relief)
Religious / faith-based activity 18%
Criminal justice 1%
Animal welfare 1%
Capacity-building and other support for third 5%
sector organisations
Other charitable, social or community purposes 15%
Cannot say /No answer provided 9%
This sample of 286 Ealing groups compares with a current ECVS database of over 800 local
groups. The latest local analysis shows:
Type of Group Number of %
Groups
BMER Groups 242 30%
Children and Family Groups 114 14%
Faith Based Groups 112 14%
Sports /Arts/ Cultural Groups 95 12%
Young Peoples Groups 74 9%
Disability Groups 60 7%
Local Residents/Tenants Groups 45 6%
Older Peoples Groups 44 5%
Housing Groups 30 4%
Environmental Groups 21 2.5%
Lesbian and Gay Groups 5 0.6%
Other / General Groups 88 11%
Since the national and local categories are different a direct comparison is not possible but it is
reasonable to say the national Third Sector Survey (covering a smaller sample size and weighted
to larger registered charities):
Includes significantly more general groups and national groups with headquarters in Ealing
(31%) than in the local sector overall (11%)
Includes significantly more arts and sports groups (29%) than in the local sector overall
(12%)
Includes significantly more children and young peoples groups (41%) than in the local
sector overall (23%)
Includes significantly more housing groups and housing associations (9%) than in the local
sector overall (4%)
Includes significantly fewer BMER groups (19 %) than in the local sector overall (30 %)
4 KEY FINDINGS
SECTION A- STATUTORY PARTNERS
The Survey asked some key questions about support available from local statutory partners,
partnership working and local funding arrangements
14% of groups in Ealing reported that statutory bodies positively influence their organisation’s
success, below the national average, but average for West London. The same proportion report
that they are satisfied with their ability to influence relevant local decisions, whereas 28% of groups
are dissatisfied with this. Again this is average for West London, but below the national average.
Finally, just 7% of groups are satisfied with local grant funding and contract bidding arrangements.
This is barely half the national average but average for West London
Taking everything into account, overall, how do the statutory bodies in your local area
influence your organisation's success?
Area Positively Negatively Net positive
National average 16% 14% +2
Ealing 14% 11% +3
Hammersmith and Fulham 13% 10% +3
Hounslow 17% 16% +1
Harrow 10% 14% -4
Hillingdon 11% 11% 0
Brent 13% 17% -4
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your ability to influence local decisions
that are relevant to your organisation?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 16% 27% -11
Ealing 14% 28% -14
Hammersmith and Fulham 12% 23% -11
Hounslow 14% 27% -13
Harrow 11% 30% -18
Hillingdon 14% 23% -8
Brent 14% 33% -19
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with local statutory grant funding / contract
bidding arrangements?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 13% 19% -6
Ealing 7% 24% -17
Hammersmith and Fulham 5% 21% -16
Hounslow 9% 23% -16
Harrow 6% 20% -14
Hillingdon 14% 14% 0
Brent 6% 33% -27
Still on the subject of local funding / income, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the
following (Ealing return)
Issue Satisfied Not Net Satisfaction West London
Satisfied Average
The range of grants 7% 27% - 20 -19
available
The range of contracts 5% 20% -15 -16
available
Access to loan finance 5% 17% -12 -34
Business rate relief and 18% 12% +6 -4
other
concessions
The process involved in 6% 28% -22 -17
applying
for funding / contracts
Timely payment by 12% 15% -3 -4
statutory
bodies
The administration 7% 23% - 16 -12
involved in
receiving funding/
contracts
The help, advice and 10% 24% -14 -14
support
provided by local
statutory bodies
when applying for
grants /contracts
The opportunity for 3 7% 25% -18 -5
year or
longer funding
The ability to recover 4% 23% -19 -17
overheads
as well as direct costs
through
statutory funding /
contracts (full
cost recovery)
To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?
Local statutory bodies in your local area value the work of your organisation
Area Strongly Neither Tend to Don’t know Not
Agree/Tend to agree nor disagree / applicable
agree disagree Strongly No answer
disagree provided
National Average 38% 11% 14% 15%
Ealing 32% 13% 17% 39%
Hammersmith 29% 11% 12% 45%
and Fulham
Hounslow 35% 12% 14% 36%
Harrow 27% 11% 14% 42%
Hillingdon 33% 8% 12% 44%
Brent 28% 16% 20% 16%
Local statutory bodies in your local area understand the nature and role of your
organisation
Area Strongly Neither Tend to Don’t know Not
Agree/Tend to agree nor disagree / applicable
agree disagree Strongly No answer
disagree provided
National Average 36% 12% 18% 13%
Ealing 29% 13% 22 % 34%
Hammersmith 22% 11% 21% 41%
and Fulham
Hounslow 35% 10% 19% 33%
Harrow 24% 12% 18% 39%
Hillingdon 32% 13% 16% 39%
Brent 31% 14% 22% 16%
Local statutory bodies in your local area respect your organisation’s independence
Area Strongly Neither Tend to Don’t know Not
Agree/Tend to agree nor disagree / applicable
agree disagree Strongly No answer
disagree provided
National Average 37% 15% 11% 34%
Ealing 35% 16% 12 % 37%
Hammersmith 25% 13% 10% 46%
and Fulham
Hounslow 35% 16% 11% 35%
Harrow 29% 14% 9% 43%
Hillingdon 32% 15% 10% 39%
Brent 31% 14% 17% 33%
Local statutory bodies in your local area consult your organisation on issues which affect
you or are of interest to you
Area Strongly Neither Tend to Don’t know Not
Agree/Tend to agree nor disagree / applicable
agree disagree Strongly No answer
disagree provided
National Average 37% 15% 11% 34%
Ealing 19% 18% 26 % 36%
Hammersmith 12% 15% 27% 40%
and Fulham
Hounslow 14% 17% 28% 41%
Harrow 14% 13% 27% 41%
Hillingdon 16% 17% 27% 37%
Brent 21% 17% 33% 22%
Local statutory bodies in your local area involve your organisation appropriately in
developing and carrying out policy on issues which affect you
Area Strongly Neither Tend to Don’t know Not
Agree/Tend to agree nor disagree / applicable
agree disagree Strongly No answer
disagree provided
National Average 16% 16% 30% 33%
Ealing 16% 18% 30 % 37%
Hammersmith 8% 13% 30% 42%
and Fulham
Hounslow 17% 12% 31% 36%
Harrow 11% 12% 29% 42%
Hillingdon 14% 15% 29% 39%
Brent 15% 18% 38% 24%
Local statutory bodies in your local area act upon your organisation’s opinions and/or
responses to consultation
Area Strongly Neither Tend to Don’t know Not
Agree/Tend to agree nor disagree / applicable
agree disagree Strongly No answer
disagree provided
National Average 13% 19% 27% 37%
Ealing 12% 17% 29 % 41%
Hammersmith 8% 17% 23% 48%
and Fulham
Hounslow 12% 14% 32% 39%
Harrow 8% 17% 26% 43%
Hillingdon 10% 19% 22% 39%
Brent 12% 18% 33% 32%
SECTION B- WIDER VCS SUPPORT
Ealing CVS and other local organisations support the highest number and percentage of third
sector organisations in West London, and more than the national average. Satisfaction with
support available from the CVS and other support organisations is equal to the national average,
and higher than any neighbouring borough.
As for overall support available to groups from all sources (including statutory), Ealing has the
second highest level of satisfaction in West London, but satisfaction is below the national average.
On measures of satisfaction with support for particular services which the CVS offers, Ealing is
above the average for West London on all measures.
Ealing has the highest levels of satisfaction in West London for finding volunteers, accessing
training and support for funding bids. The percentage who report satisfaction with support
available to influence local decisions (eg through ECN) and work in partnership with other groups
to deliver services is higher than the national average and higher than Croydon, a local authority of
similar population which has beacon status for community involvement.
Do you currently get any support from other third sector organisations in your local area
(e.g. Council for Voluntary Service, Local Social Enterprise Network, Co-operative
Development Agency, or other local capacity-building bodies) or not?
Area % of groups which do Total number of groups
supported
National average 18% n/a
Ealing 20% 177
Hammersmith and Fulham 11% 79
Hounslow 14% 81
Harrow 11% 62
Hillingdon 15% 88
Brent 12% 106
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the support available from these other
third sector organisations?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 15% 10% +5
Ealing 15% 16% -1
Hammersmith and 9% 10% -1
Fulham
Hounslow 13% 14% -1
Harrow 9% 12% -3
Hillingdon 11% 10% +1
Brent 11% 19% -8
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the support available to your organisation
in your local area?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 22% 20% +2
Ealing 17% 23% -6
Hammersmith and 10% 22% -12
Fulham
Hounslow 20% 25% -5
Harrow 10% 22% -12
Hillingdon 16% 19% -3
Brent 16% 30% -14
How would you rate the support available in your local area from all bodies to help your
organisation to find volunteers ?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 14% 15% -1
Ealing 15% 13% +2
Hammersmith and 10% 13% -3
Fulham
Hounslow 12% 14% -2
Harrow 10% 18% -8
Hillingdon 10% 19% -9
Brent 15% 18% -3
How would you rate the support available in your local area from all bodies to help your
organisation to access advice and support ?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 26% 13% +13
Ealing 20% 14% +6
Hammersmith and 13% 16% -3
Fulham
Hounslow 19% 15% +4
Harrow 16% 14% +2
Hillingdon 20% 13% +7
Brent 20% 22% -2
How would you rate the support available in your local area from all bodies to help your
organisation to ensure you have enough space to operate (e.g. office space)?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 12% 12% 0
Ealing 12% 20% -8
Hammersmith and 9% 17% -8
Fulham
Hounslow 12% 13% -1
Harrow 7% 17% -10
Hillingdon 13% 12% +1
Brent 13% 25% -12
How would you rate the support available in your local area from all bodies to help your
organisation to access training ?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 20% 8% +12
Ealing 23% 11% +12
Hammersmith and 10% 13% -3
Fulham
Hounslow 18% 10% +8
Harrow 16% 9% +7
Hillingdon 17% 7% +10
Brent 23% 16% +7
How would you rate the support available in your local area from all bodies to help your
organisation to apply for funding or bid for contracts?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 11% 18% -7
Ealing 10% 19% -9
Hammersmith and 4% 18% -14
Fulham
Hounslow 7% 18% -11
Harrow 5% 19% -14
Hillingdon 6% 16% -10
Brent 7% 27% -20
How would you rate the support available in your local area from all bodies to help your
organisation to work together with other third sector organisations to influence local
decisions?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 14% 12% +2
Ealing 16% 16% 0
Hammersmith 9% 13% -4
and Fulham
Hounslow 13% 13% 0
Harrow 10% 11% -1
Hillingdon 10% 11% -1
Brent 19% 20% -1
How would you rate the support available in your local area from all bodies to help your
organisation to work together with other third sector organisations to deliver local
services?
Area Satisfied Not Satisfied Net satisfaction
National average 13% 10% +3
Ealing 16% 15% +1
Hammersmith 10% 12% -2
and Fulham
Hounslow 10% 13% -3
Harrow 9% 11% -2
Hillingdon 9% 9% 0
Brent 15% 19% -4
SUCCESS AND RESOURCES
89% of groups in Ealing report success in meeting their main objectives over the past year, exactly
the same as the national average. There is lower confidence about the year ahead, with 82%
groups confident that they will be successful, and 14% not confident.
However, only 40% of groups report sufficient overall income, the second lowest in West London
and well below the national average.
Thinking back over the last 12 months, to what extent do you think your organisation has
been successful, or not, in meeting its main objectives?
Area Successful Unsuccessful
National average 89% 6%
Ealing 89% 7%
Hammersmith and Fulham 86% 9%
Hounslow 85% 9%
Harrow 80% 11%
Hillingdon 89% 5%
Brent 77% 16%
Thinking back over the last 12 months, has your organisation had sufficient or insufficient
overall level of income from all sources?
Area Sufficient Insufficient
National average 49% 39%
Ealing 40% 48%
Hammersmith and Fulham 41% 48%
Hounslow 42% 44%
Harrow 43% 41%
Hillingdon 46% 43%
Brent 27% 60%
Thinking back over the last 12 months, has your organisation had sufficient or insufficient
numbers of volunteers?
Area Sufficient Insufficient
National average 46% 30%
Ealing 49% 24%
Hammersmith and Fulham 41% 27%
Hounslow 42% 31%
Harrow 43% 30%
Hillingdon 46% 33%
Brent 49% 31%
Thinking back over the last 12 months, has your organisation had sufficient or insufficient
Information and communication technology?
Area Sufficient Insufficient
National average 48% 18%
Ealing 48% 27%
Hammersmith and Fulham 51% 25%
Hounslow 51% 21%
Harrow 38% 22%
Hillingdon 47% 17%
Brent 46% 30%
Thinking back over the last 12 months, has your organisation had sufficient or insufficient
Trustees / management committee members ?
Area Sufficient Insufficient
National average 68% 17%
Ealing 70% 15%
Hammersmith and Fulham 66% 17%
Hounslow 61% 21%
Harrow 63% 17%
Hillingdon 72% 13%
Brent 66% 18%
Thinking back over the last 12 months, has your organisation had sufficient or insufficient
space to operate ?
Area Sufficient Insufficient
National average 47% 20%
Ealing 45% 31%
Hammersmith and Fulham 44% 27%
Hounslow 45% 23%
Harrow 36% 25%
Hillingdon 46% 19%
Brent 43% 35%
Thinking back over the last 12 months, has your organisation had sufficient or insufficient
Networking opportunities ?
Area Sufficient Insufficient
National average 43% 14%
Ealing 44% 23%
Hammersmith and Fulham 49% 19%
Hounslow 41% 21%
Harrow 34% 20%
Hillingdon 38% 15%
Brent 43% 24%
Looking forward over the next 12 months, how confident, or not, are you that your
organisation will be successful in meeting its main objectives?
Area Successful Unsuccessful
National average 84% 11%
Ealing 82% 14%
Hammersmith and Fulham 83% 12%
Hounslow 79% 15%
Harrow 74% 16%
Hillingdon 84% 9%
Brent 75% 16%
Finally some specific Ealing figures
To what extent, if at all, does your organisation currently have any direct dealings with local
statutory bodies in your local area?
Level Percentage
A great amount 5%
A fair amount 18%
Not very much 35%
None at all 37%
Don't know/No Answer 5%
Some organisations monitor the diversity of their management, staff and volunteers, while
others do not. Please indicate which, if any, of these your organisation monitors.
Area Do Monitor
Management 28%
Staff 28%
Volunteers 33%
None of these 53%
No reply 6%
Please indicate your organisation’s approximate annual total turnover or income from all
sources.
Income Level Percentage
£1 - £10,000 23%
£10,001 - £25,000 12%
£25,001 - £50,000 17%
£50,001 - £100,000 10%
£100,001 - £500,000 9%
More than £500,000 6%
No financial information 12%
provided
Does your organisation receive income from any of the sources listed below?
Income Source Percentage
Donations and fundraising activities 66%
Membership fees / subscriptions 38%
Grants from non-statutory bodies 24%
National Lottery (e.g. Big Lottery) 8%
Grants or core funding (including Service Level 14%
Agreements)
Earned income from contracts 14%
Earned income from trading including retail 14%
Income from investments 22%
Other 14%
None of these 8%
No answer provided 3%
