The role and scope of the UK voluntary sector

This thesis describes and analyses the scope and scale of the UK voluntary sector, drawing on research undertaken within the context of an international comparative project. It provides the first systematic and comprehensive attempt to map the economic contribution of the voluntary sector in terms of paid employment and financial resources, using both a broad definition suitable for international comparative purposes and a narrow one tailored to the UK context. The methodology for constructing the mapping are described and the results are analysed, organised by the International Classification of Nonprofit Organisations (ICNPO).

The thesis also sets the sector's current contributions in historical context with reference to its changing relationship with the state, and the role of religion in its development. It explores the voluntary sector's wider social and political role from a variety of perspectives.

The study traces and analyses the recent development of links with the state at a general level, and disaggregated by field (housing, special employment measures, urban development, international aid and personal social services) and tier of the state (central, local and territorial government). There is also a detailed analysis of the historical and recent development of part of the largest field of voluntary sector service provision activity in the UK (under a broad definition of the sector), primary and secondary education. The thesis concludes with a discussion of what light the UK experience analyses in this study sheds on some of the main theories relating to the role and scope of the voluntary sector that have been developed in the international literature on the voluntary, non-profit or third sector.