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Conclusion: Idealists and Realists

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100 Years of NCVO and Voluntary Action

Abstract

In this chapter Davis Smith examines the successes and challenges of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) over its first 100 years. In addition to the establishment of a number of household name charities such as Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and Age Concern, it suggests that the development of closer relations with the state resulted in growing awareness of the value of voluntary action, increased funding, and beneficial changes to public policy, tax, and charity law. Critics, however, suggest that success came at a price and argue that closer partnership with the state and increased professionalisation eroded the voluntary sector’s independence and distinctiveness. The chapter suggests that for the Council to retain its influence it needs to rediscover some of the federalism of its early years.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kendall, 2000.

  2. 2.

    Alcock, 2016.

  3. 3.

    Interview with Perri 6, 30 April 2018.

  4. 4.

    Harris, 2016.

  5. 5.

    Interview with Perri 6, 30 April 2018.

  6. 6.

    The term was popularised in the 1930s by Elizabeth Macadam in her book of the same name. Macadam, 1934.

  7. 7.

    For example, Flanagan, 1991, p. 202, and Lowe, 1995, p. 373.

  8. 8.

    See, for example, Dahrendorf, 2001.

  9. 9.

    Alcock, 2016.

  10. 10.

    See, for example, Milbourne, 2013, and Rochester, 2013.

  11. 11.

    Interview with Sir Stuart Etherington, 25 July 2017.

  12. 12.

    Interview with Nicholas Deakin, 4 April 2017.

  13. 13.

    Interview with Baroness Prashar, 9 October 2017.

  14. 14.

    On claims that the sector has been co-opted by government, see Carmel and Harlock, 2008.

  15. 15.

    See, for example, Maloney et al., 1994.

  16. 16.

    Grant, 1999.

  17. 17.

    Lune and Oberstein, 2001.

  18. 18.

    For example, Craig et al., 2004, and McGhee et al, 2016.

  19. 19.

    Berridge and Mold, 2011, p. 117.

  20. 20.

    Rochester, 2013. Interview with Sir Stephen Bubb, 19 July 2017.

  21. 21.

    Interview with Bharat Mehta, 27 July 2017.

  22. 22.

    Marwick, 1964. See also Hilton, 2011, and Hilton et al., 2013.

  23. 23.

    Sampson, 1962, pp. 242–3.

  24. 24.

    Hilton et al., p. 16.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., p. 16.

  26. 26.

    On the growing aversion to experts, see Hay, 2007.

  27. 27.

    See, for example, Snape, 2015, on accusations of elitism during the inter-war years.

  28. 28.

    Burchardt, 2012.

  29. 29.

    For criticism of the work on the new estates, see Garside, 2004, and Olechnowicz, 1997. For criticism of the occupational club movement with the unemployed, see Flanagan, 1991.

  30. 30.

    Snape, 2015.

  31. 31.

    Harris, 1992, p. 126.

  32. 32.

    See, for example, Shapely, 2011.

  33. 33.

    The future Labour foreign secretary, David Miliband, also worked at the Council for a short time as a political analyst.

  34. 34.

    Rochester, 2013.

  35. 35.

    The dream was based on a book by Francis Gladstone, director of policy at the Council under Hinton. Gladstone, 1979.

  36. 36.

    Rochester, 2013.

  37. 37.

    Offer, 2003, p. 232.

  38. 38.

    Knapp, 1984.

  39. 39.

    Milbourne, 2013; Hemmings, 2017.

  40. 40.

    DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; and Billis, 2012.

  41. 41.

    See the various reports from the National Coalition for Independent Action, in particular, NCIA, 2014.

  42. 42.

    Taylor, 1996, p. 23.

  43. 43.

    Wilson, 1992.

  44. 44.

    Dartington, 1991.

  45. 45.

    See Chap. 8.

  46. 46.

    Maier et al., 2014.

  47. 47.

    Hemmings, 2017.

  48. 48.

    Ibid.

  49. 49.

    Berridge and Mold, 2011, p. 132.

  50. 50.

    Grant, 2014. Calder, 1992.

  51. 51.

    Wolfenden Committee, 1978.

  52. 52.

    Handy, 2015.

  53. 53.

    On the changing shape of civil society, see the final report of the inquiry into Civil Society Futures, 2018.

  54. 54.

    Handy, 2015, p. 24.

  55. 55.

    Hemmings, 2017, p. 62.

  56. 56.

    Interview with Margaret Bolton, 2 October 2017.

  57. 57.

    Harrison, 2003, p. 87.

  58. 58.

    Interview with Janet Morrison, 10 October 2017.

  59. 59.

    Interview with Dame Julia Cleverdon, 16 May 2018.

  60. 60.

    Interview with Nicholas Deakin, 4 April 2017.

  61. 61.

    Interview with Baroness Prashar, 9 October 2017.

  62. 62.

    Interview with Sir Stuart Etherington, 25 July 2017.

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  1. Cass Business School, City, University of London, London, UK

    Justin Davis Smith

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Davis Smith, J. (2019). Conclusion: Idealists and Realists. In: 100 Years of NCVO and Voluntary Action. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02774-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02774-2_11

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