Social Participation (Social and Welfare, State of the South West 2011)

10.7.1 The term social capital can be used to describe the nature and extent of formal and informal interaction between members of society. There are many definitions but social capital is generally taken to mean the value of social relationships and support, civic or community engagement or trust in friends and neighbours. It is of interest to policy makers as well as to members of the community because greater interaction between people generates a greater sense of community spirit.

10.7.2 Research has shown that higher levels of social capital are associated with better health, higher educational achievement, better employment outcomes and lower crime rates. It can therefore be a useful measure of the
broader well-being of an area.

10.7.3 Social capital can be measured in many different ways. The following paragraphs give an insight into the nature and extent of social participation in the region including formal and informal volunteering and civic engagement.

10.7.4 Further research information on social capital can be be accessed from the University of Aberdeen - Centre for the Study of Public Policy website.

10.7.5 Voluntary and community, social enterprise and similar ‘social purpose’ organisations emerge at local, regional, national and international level whenever people identify and join together to address needs which are not met by the state or private enterprise.

10.7.6 All social purpose organisations have an unpaid voluntary board or management committee and many deploy volunteers in delivery of their objectives. However, the term ‘voluntary’ reflects the key characteristic of these organisations which is that they exist as a result of people acting voluntarily to address need. They are not set up by state bodies and do not fulfil statutory responsibilities.

10.7.7 The South West region has a particularly active social purpose sector. It has the highest proportion of charities to population and highest levels of volunteering of all the English regions. It also has a notably high proportion of social enterprises.

10.7.8 General charities are at the core of the voluntary and community sector, however social purpose activities include a wide range of not-for-profit organisations operating for social and community benefit. These include Housing Associations as well as a very large number of small, often fairly informal, unregistered community groups active at local level (‘grassroots’ organisations). The most robust ‘social purpose’ data available relate to registered general charities, and they are the focus for this section.

10.7.9 Registered General Charities – According to the UK Civil Society Almanac 2010 (NCVO), in 2007/08 there were 18,555 registered general charities in the South West (see Table 10.7.1). This constituted 13% of the English total and third highest of the English regions after London and the South east. With 3.6 per 1000 adults the South West has the highest proportion of charities to people of all the English regions and second only to Scotland (3.8) in the whole UK.

10.7.10 In 2007 South West charities employed a paid labour force of 67,000 people, the third highest number of employees of the English regions after the South East (103,000) and London (90,000) - around 3% of all SW employees. Data on SW third sector skills gaps is available via www.southwestforum.org.uk. In 2007/08 South West registered general charities had a combined income of £2.6 billion.

Table 10.7.1 Distribution of voluntary organisations and their financial characteristics by region and UK country, 2007/08

	Number of Organisations	Number of Organisations (per 1,000 population)	Income (£ millions)	Expenditure (£ millions)	Assets (£ millions)
North East	4818	1.9	762	720.8	1378
North West	14029	2	2143.3	1989.3	3363.9
Yorkshire and Humber	11023	2.1	1615.3	1520.6	2301.8
East Midlands	11617	2.6	1229.2	1105.9	2357.3
West Midlands	12467	2.3	1733.9	1596.8	3647.5
East of England	17515	3.1	1844.5	1656.9	4272.9
London	23081	3	14733.4	13785	53442.2
South East	25616	3.1	4223	3904.3	9375.7
South West	18555	3.6	2573.9	2329.8	5951.4
England	138721	2.7	30858.5	28609.4	86090.7
Source: NCVO (2010 Almanac)

10.7.11 Unregistered organisations – charities with income less than £5,000 are not required to register with the Charity Commission and are therefore excluded from statistics relating to registered general charities. There are approximately 600,000 ‘informal’ organisations in the UK.

10.7.12 If the South West has the same proportion of UK unregistered organisations as it does English registered charities (13%) this would mean 78,000 informal organisations in addition to the 18,555 registered general charities in the region.

10.7.13 More data on social purpose activity can be found at via South West Forum, the Cabinet Office's Big Society webpage and the NCVO almanac. ,

10.7.14 Housing Associations - The National Housing Federation represents nearly 200 independent, not-for-profit housing associations in the South West which own and manage over 180,000 properties on behalf of around 420,000 people.

10.7.15 In 2007 these associations had a combined turnover of £669 million. They employed nearly 8,800 people directly and many more indirectly through contracting and investing in local services. In 2007, Housing Associations
in the South West spent over £138 million maintaining people's homes.

10.7.16 For more information: data on Housing Associations in the South West is accessible via the National Housing Federation (Home Truths 2008 Report).

10.7.17 Social enterprises - Social enterprises are businesses with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.

10.7.18 National data on social enterprise population and distribution are inconsistent. A government commissioned survey has identified that there were about 1,800 social enterprises in the South West in 2005. On this basis the South West contains 12% of all social enterprises in the UK, the third highest after London and the South East. However, research for the SW regional body for social enterprises, RISE, estimates that there are about 5,500 social enterprises in the South West. A data review undertaken by the Third Sector Research Centre in 2010 notes a "high level of social enterprise in the South West against a range of measures."

10.7.19 See the Economy chapter for further information on social enterprises. Data on social enterprises in the South West is accessible via the Annual Small Business Survey 2005 (BIS) and at sub-regional level via the Regional Infrastructure for Social Enterprise (RISE) website.

10.7.20 Voluntarism remains the foundation principle for all charities, and the voluntary and community sector as a whole. The fundamental basis of the sector is that people join together voluntarily to address a particular need.

10.7.21 The South West continues to lead the way amongst the English regions in terms of volunteering. Citizenship Survey data from 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2008 and 2010 show the South West to have the highest proportion of formal volunteering of all of the English regions. In 2009, the region was second to the South East, but in 2010, ranked first again, with 31% of the population stating they participating in formal volunteering at least once a month, in the previous 12 months. This compares with an average for England of 25%.

10.7.22 On the basis of these figures, this means that almost 1,600,000 adults (based on mid-2009 population estimates volunteered in the region in 2009/10. An Office of the Third Sector survey (‘Helping out: a national survey of volunteering and charitable giving’) estimates that regular volunteers give 11-16 hours per month. As such volunteers are likely to make a significant contribution to the South West economy.

10.7.23 There is some evidence to suggest that a greater proportion of older people participate in formal volunteering. Given the relatively high proportion of older people in the South West this may account, at least in part, for the strong levels of volunteering in the region.

10.7.24 The Citizenship Survey figures are consistent with 2008 Place Survey data which show that the England average for regular participation in volunteering is 23%, with the South West at the top of the table at 28%.

Table 10.7.2 Participation in Voluntary Activities in 12 Months Before Interview - by Government
Office Region and Country, 2008/09 and 2009/10

Government Office Region and County	Informal Volunteering		Formal Volunteering
Government Office Region and County	2008/09	2009/10	2008/09	2009/10
North East	57	21	33	36
North West	60	47	39	34
Yorkshire and Humber	58	52	37	38
East Midlands	63	51	41	40
West Midlands	60	53	40	41
East of England	64	63	44	44
London	59	49	34	35
South East	69	61	49	45
South West	65	60	42	49
England	62	54	41	40
Source: DCLG Citizenship Survey 2008/09, 2009/10

10.7.25 For more detail on the findings from the Citizenship Survey 2009/10 go to Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and additional data can also be accessed via the Places Survey.

10.7.26 Voluntary and community sector skills gaps and recruitment difficulties Research (10) by the University of Plymouth for South West Forum’s Workforce Development Project during 2005-06 found that 61% of voluntary sector organisations surveyed reported skills gaps amongst their employees and that these were largely in line with national voluntary sector trends. The top five skills gaps related to: ITC and computer literacy, organisational and staff management, financial management, health and safety and communication. The research also revealed that 37% of voluntary sector organisations in the South West had hard to fill vacancies among their paid staff, the majority of these at managerial level. And although less than 15% of organisations had difficulties retaining paid staff, almost a quarter have had a problem retaining their voluntary trustees.

Caring

10.7.27 Provision of unpaid care is also a useful indicator of ' social capital'. Data from the 2001 Census indicated that almost 500,000 people in the South West were helping or supporting family members, friends, neighbours or others cope with long-term physical or mental health or disability or problems related to old age. This equates to 10% of the total population, and is slightly higher than the percentage for England as a whole.

10.7.28 Within the South West, the proportion of the population providing some sort of unpaid care tends to be higher in the south and west of the region, with the highest levels occurring in the more coastal and rural areas. In Christchurch 12% of the population provided some level of unpaid care. This is the highest proportion of any district or unitary authority in the South West and may reflect the high levels of older people in the district; 34% of the population is of retirement age, the highest of any district in England. At the other end of the scale, in Swindon and Exeter the proportion of carers is around 9% with both these areas having a relatively low population of older people (both around 17%).

Figure 10.7.1 Proportion of Population in District and Unitary Authorities Providing Unpaid Care (2001 Census)

[ Zoom ]

Proportion of Population in District and Unitary Authorities Providing Unpaid Care (Fig 10.7.1). Source: 2001 Census.

10.7.29 Most carers in the South West (70%) spend less than 20 hours per week looking after others but a significant minority, (30% or 146,000 people), spend longer than this. About two-thirds of this latter group provide 50 or more hours of unpaid care per week.

Table 10.7.3 Population providing unpaid care - by time spent per week

% of Total Population
	1-19 hours	20-49 hours	50+ hours	Total
South West	7.1	1	2	10
England	6.8	1.1	2	9.9
Source: Census 2001, ONS

10.7.30 Across the region the highest levels of care were provided in Kerrier, Restormel, Torbay, Penwith, Caradon and Christchurch where between 2.5% and 3.0% of their population provides 50 hours or more of care per week.
For further information see Census 2001.

Neighbourliness

10.7.31 A broader assessment of the extent to which people in the South West connect with each other can be derived from the Department for Communities and Local Government 2009/10 Citizenship Survey. This asked respondents to give their views about their neighbourhood and to indicate how close-knit they felt their communities to be. The results suggest that communities in the South West have strong connections and are among the most neighbourly of the English regions.

10.7.32 The survey found that 73% of people said that the neighbourhood pulled together to improve it. This was the highest score of any English region and exceeded the level for England and Wales (67%). South West residents also gave the highest score of any English region (60%) in agreeing that “many people in their neighbourhood can be trusted” (compared to the England average of 50%). 73% of adults also ‘definitely enjoy living in the neighbourhood’. Again, this was the highest score of any English region and was above the level for England and Wales (68%).

10.7.33 There was also strong evidence that people in the South West mixed freely with each other irrespective of whether or not they came from similar backgrounds. Of the South West respondents, 88% of adults agreed that people from different backgrounds got on well together. This was the joint highest percentage of any English region (along with London) and exceeded the England and Wales average of 85%.

10.7.34 For more detail on the findings from the Citizenship Survey 2009/10: Community Cohesion Report go to Department for Communities and Local Government.

Citizenship

10.7.35 The development of strong, active and empowered communities depends in large part on the active engagement in the civic process by local people. The DCLG 2009/10 Citizenship Survey provides an insight into the extent of engagement in the civic process. It measures this in three ways:

Civic activism - involvement either in direct decision-making about local services or issues or in the actual provision of these councillor services by taking on a role such as a local, school governor or magistrate;

Civic consultation - the active engagement in consultation about local services or issues through activities such as attending a consultation group or completing a questionnaire about these services;
Civic participation - is broader and covers civic engagement in democratic processes such as contacting an elected representative, taking part in a public demonstration or protest or signing apetition.

Figure 10.7.2 Proportion of Adults Participating in Civic Renewal Activities at Least
Once in the Previous Year - 2009/10

[ Zoom ]

Proportion of Adults Participating in Civic Renewal Activities at Least Once in the Previous Year - 2009/10 (Fig 10.7.2). Source: DCLG Citizenship Survey.

10.7.36 Levels of civic engagement in the South West are comparable to or better than those for England as a whole. In respect of civic activism adults in the South West score higher than most other English regions with 12% involved in activities in the past year. On civic consultation the South West had the second highest percentage of engagement with local activities of all regions, at 21% (behind the East of England, with 23%). For civic participation the region scored the highest of all the English regions, with 39% of adults saying they had been active in the past year. The South West levels of civic engagement are also higher than the England average on all three measures (Eng:10%; 18%; 34% respectively).

10.7.37 Looking a little wider 40% of local respondents agreed that they ‘feel able to influence decisions affecting their local area and Great Britain’, which is higher than all the other English regions, apart from the South East, which also scored 40%.

10.7.38 For more detail on the findings from the Citizenship Survey 2009/10 go to DCLG.