The uneven impact of austerity on the voluntary and community sector: A tale of two cities

Abstract

General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms likely to suffer most due to the combined effect of cuts in government funding in these areas and their greater dependency on statutory funding. This paper develops this argument by exploring the sector's changing relationship with the state through an empirical analysis of the differential impact of recession and austerity on VCS organisations involved in public service delivery in the two English Core Cities of Bristol and Liverpool. This paper highlights how the scale and unevenness of public spending cuts, the levels of voluntary sector dependency on statutory funding and the rising demands for the sector's services in a period of recession and austerity are being experienced locally. It portrays a sector whose resilience is being severely tested and one that is being forced rapidly to restructure and reposition itself in an increasingly challenging funding environment.

A comparative overview of social enterprise ‘ecosystems’ in Scotland and England: an evolutionary perspective

“…Roy et al (2015) focus their attention on the rhetorical claims of politicians for Scotland to be considered the ost suppo ti e e i o e t i the o ld fo so ial e te p ise . Jones et al (2015), meanwhile, document an uneven reliance on public sector funding between organisations in Bristol and Liverpool, while Mazzei (2013) found similar explanations for some of the differences in the social economies of two regions in the north of England. However, considerations of the implications of such differences are still few and far between (Vincent and Harrow 2005); Muñoz (2010) notes that comparatively little is known generally about how place shapes the development of social enterprise.…”

Resilient communities? Experiences of risk and resilience in a time of austerity

“…Again, reductions in income and funding are perhaps the most pressing issues, although it has been suggested that the third sector is facing more "broadly a foundational crisis around its very role and purpose" (Dayson & Wells 2013: 97). As with local authorities, the third sector is described as "a sector whose resilience is being severely tested" (Jones et al 2015). At individual and household levels, welfare reforms have had widespread effects, including rising levels of debt, increasing use of food banks, fuel poverty, and deterioration in health ( Hence austerity contributes to the dismantling and 'residualisation' of collective institutions of social protection, and places increasing pressure on organisations that play important roles in community resilience.…”

Recession, Austerity and the ‘Great Risk Shift’: Local Government and Household Impacts and Responses in Bristol and Liverpool

“…It is precisely the more disadvantaged local authorities with greater concentrations of households in need and levels of deprivation that are being disproportionately affected by reductions in government expenditure (see also Hastings, Bailey, and Watkins 2012;Meegan et al 2014). Moreover, third sector agencies that provide support for hard-pressed households in more disadvantaged local authorities are also facing significant financial reductions given their greater dependence on statutory funding (Clifford, Geyne-Rahme, and Mohan 2013;Jones et al, forthcoming).…”