The Opportunities and Challenges of the Changing Public Services Landscape for the Third Sector in Scotland: A Longitudinal Study Year Three Report (2009-2012)

APPENDIX F: FLEXIBLE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

THE CHANGING PUBLIC SERVICES LANDSCAPE IN SCOTLAND: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE THIRD SECTOR

Year Three Case Studies/Focus Groups

Outline interview schedule

November 2011

Collect Documentary Evidence

Ask for copies of organisation's annual reports and other records in order to gather data for the previous three years on:

• Annual Income
• Sources of income (particularly proportions from public funding)
• Number of FTE staff (if changes, is this because of changes to hours, redundancies etc. Collect data)

Information about Use of Data and Consent form for Research Participants

Where possible, send out confidentiality forms before the interview/focus groups. At the interview/focus group explain the arrangements and obtain consent (where possible) for:

1. Use of the Data (2009-2012)

2. Data Handover to Scottish Government (after 2012)

3. Storage of the Data with the Timescapes Archive

General

Has your title/role position changed since our last meeting? If so, how and why?

Topic 1: Responses to the Changing Policy and Funding Environment

• What changes have there been in the last year in the policy AND/OR funding environment that have/are going to change how your organisation delivers public services?
• What are the drivers of these changes? (probe impact of localism, Concordat, Single Outcome Agreements, etc. other key turning points).
• What has been the actual impact on the TSO (e.g. on service delivery, clients and staff) as opposed to the anticipated impact? What has been the impact of the Work Programme (where relevant)? Is the personalisation agenda relevant to you and if so, how has this impacted? Has the policy shift toward prevention and/or early intervention had any impact on you and how? Have you accessed the Change Fund?
• [For selected case study organisations only: how has policy/funding/economic environment impacted on volunteering within the organisation?]
• What opportunities and challenges have these presented?
• How has your organisation adapted/responded? (e.g. identify the stage organisations are at with organisational reviews, making costs savings, diversifying the funding base/social enterprise). In particular, what changes have there been to jobs, pay etc.?
• Have you considered accessing other types of funding such as private finance/loan finance/higher risk capital since the last meeting? If so, what are the pros and cons?
• How does your organisation plan to respond in future?
• What do you think are the key lessons you have learned in the last year?
• Do you have any examples you consider to constitute 'good practice' in adapting to the changing environment? What are the constraints on 'good practice'?

Topic 2: Leadership

• Have there been any changes in leadership in the organisation in the past year? If so, why have there been changes, what have they been and what has been the impact?
• Have there been any changes in the role or level of involvement of the Board since the last meeting? (Explore views of role of Board, effectiveness of it, is it strategic, visionary?)
• What have the challenges been for leadership within the organisation? (e.g. skills deficits, training needs). How well are leaders adapting to the challenges? Is leadership important for managing resilience within the organisation?

Topic 3: Measurement and Evaluation

• Have there been any changes in the last year to the way performance has been measured and evaluated by funders?
• What have these been?
• Why have these changes occurred and what has been the impact on the TSO?
• Have you changed your approach to impact measurement in the last year? If so, how and why?
• Have you adopted SROI or other means of impact measurement in order to ensure that the benefit delivered by the TSO is evidenced and rewarded?
• What have these been; why did you adopt them; how useful have they been?
• Do your measurement and evaluation procedures fit with the Scottish Government National Performance Framework? How and why?

Topic 4: Partnerships/Relationships/Interfaces^[44]

• Have you experienced any changes in your organisation's relationship with local authorities and CPPs in the last year? (note: identify actual from anticipated changes)
• How and why have these changes taken place?
• How does this affect how your organisation operates?
• Are you aware of third sector "interfaces" that have been created in each LA area? If so, have you been involved? How? Are they working? What opportunities are presented by the new third sector interface structures?
• Are you involved with any other intermediary organisations or processes? Who? How? Why?
• Are there any other organisations/forums with which you are involved in order to input into decision-making at various levels?
• Have you experienced any changes to partnership working in the last year? E.g. new partnerships formed, existing partnership dissolved, more Consortium partnerships, probe awareness / experience of 'Public Social Partnerships'/ involvement in design of services? (note: identify actual from anticipated changes)
• Have you been involved in service design? E.g. through Public Social Partnerships, through dialogue with funders, changes in tendering. To what extent have you been involved in service design? Have opportunities for involvement changed since the last meeting? If yes, how?
• What are the reasons for these changes?
• Have changes in the policy and funding environment in the last year changed your approach to partnerships? How and why?

Topic 7: Future Opportunities and Challenges

Do you think the opportunities and challenges for your organisation over the next 12 months have changed since the last meeting? What has changed and why do you think this has been?