The 1998 Data Protection Act has had far-reaching implications for voluntary organizations which hold personal data on computer or on paper. The second edition of this practical guide has been revised and updated following the implementation of the Act to include more examples, model policies and statements, and decision-making flow charts, as well as authoritative answers to key questions, and a comprehensive index. It sets out clearly: what managers need to do in order to comply; who and what the Act applies to; when you need consent from the people whose data you hold; the rights of individuals as data subjects; the responsibilities of voluntary organizations; what managers need to do in order to stay within the law; and how to incorporate Data Protection into your policies and procedures.
In this volume charity commissioners and leading charity policy reformers from across the world reflect on the aims and objectives of charity regulation and what it has achieved. Regulating Charities represents an insider’s review of the last quarter century of charity law policy and an insight for its future development. Charity Commissioners and nonprofit regulatory agency heads chart the nature of charity law reforms that they have implemented, with a ‘warts and all’ analysis. They are joined by influential sector reformers who assess the outcomes of their policy agitation. All reflect on the current state of charities in a fiscally restrained environment, often with conservative governments, and offer their views on productive regulatory paths available for the future. This topical collection brings together major charity regulation actors, and will be of great interest to anyone concerned with contemporary third sector policy-making, public administration and civil society.
A critical introduction to and analysis of the legal relationships between the state and voluntary sector, this volume provides the first available comparative analysis of state responses to voluntary sector activity in the wake of September 11th.
This book brings together scholars and experienced practitioners from different countries to investigate the relationship between regulation and relational governance for the third sector in a comparative context.
Provides a multi-disciplinary survey of nonprofit organizations and their role and function in society. This book also examines the nature of philanthropic behaviours and an array of organizations, international issues, social science theories, and insight.
Over the last two decades the development of the 'third sector' has been underpinned by principles of independence and autonomy,regulation and accountability and patronage through partnership. The essays in this collection expose the resulting tensions in the relationship between voluntary sector and the state. As the government role has switched from that of provider to enabler and regulator, many charities and voluntary organisations have been forced by financial pressures to offer services and engage in trading activities, performing a wide range of sometimes –conflicting functions which an threaten their relationships with service-users and funds. The contributions to this volume address the pressing legal questions about governance, openness, accountability and regulation raised by the shifting boundary between state and voluntary sector responsibilities. Specific areas discussed include the legal structure and governance of voluntary bodies, accountability to government and to service-users, regulation and privatisation, partnership with central and local government, taxation of trading activities, volunteer behaviour and regulation, political independence and control, and conflicts of interest.
The last two decades of the twentieth century saw the most fundamental changes in British social policy since the creation of the welfare state in the 1940s. From Margaret Thatcher's radical reassessment of the role of the state to Tony Blair's 'Third Way', the voluntary sector has been at the heart of these changes. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, voluntary organisations have been cast in leading roles on the social policy stage. They are expected to make key contributions to countering social exclusion; to regenerating communities; to providing social housing and welfare services; to promoting international aid and development; and to developing and sustaining democratic participation and the active community. But how are voluntary sector organisations grappling with the implications of their new, expanded role? How is their relationship with the state changing in practice? This book, which has its origins in an international conference of leading academics in the field, provides answers to these pressing questions. It analyses the numerous and complex ways in which the formulation and implementation of social policy is dependent on the contributions of the voluntary sector. It discusses the impact of the new policy environment on voluntary organisations. And it suggests that the successful implementation of social policy requires government to acknowledge and nurture the distinctive features and contributions of voluntary sector organisations. Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy in Britain is essential reading not only for the many people studying, working in or working with the voluntary sector in Britain but also for anyone who is interested in the formulation and implementation of social policy.
Originally published in 1985 The Role of Voluntary Organisations in Social Welfare considers the voluntary sector as a provider of social welfare. The book asks the fundamental questions for those involved in social welfare: what should the role of this voluntary sector be, and what should its relationship be with the government sector? Reporting on extensive original research undertaken for the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust, the study examines the functions, staffing, funding and control of voluntary organisations. It looks at the relationship with the government sector, explores the increasingly important questions of accountability and discusses future prospects.
Charitable organisations occupy a central place in society across much of the world, accounting for billions of pounds in revenue. As society changes, so does the law which regulates nonprofit organisations. From independent schools to foodbanks, they occupy a broad policy space. Not immune to scandals, sometimes nonprofits are in the news for all the wrong reasons and so, when they are in the public eye, regulators must respond to high profile cases. In this book, a team of internationally recognised charity law experts offers a modern take on a fast-changing policy field. Through the concept of policy debates it moves the field forward, providing an important reference point for developing scholarship in charity law and policy. Each chapter explores a policy debate, setting out the fault-lines in play, and often offering proposals for reform. Two important themes are explored in this edited collection. First, there is a policy tension in charity law between its largely conservative history and the need to keep up-to-date with social change. This pressure is felt acutely along key fault-lines, such as the extent to which a body of law which developed before the advent of legislated human rights is able to adapt to a rights-based world, and the extent to which independent schools – historically so closely linked with charity – might deserve their generous tax-breaks. The second theme explores the law from the perspective of a good-faith regulator, concerned to maximise the usefulness of charities. From the need to reform old organisations, to the need to ensure that charities enjoy the right amount of regulatory freedom in a world of payment-by-result contracts, the book critically charts the policy justifications for regulatory intervention, as well as the costs that such intervention might bring. Debates in Charity Law will be of interest to both academic researchers and students of the non-profit sector, looking to understand the links between law, social change and regulation. It will also help and guide nonprofit employees and volunteers, showing how their sector is shaped and moulded by the law.
