Jenny Harrow

Blind and partially sighted people’s perceptions of their inclusion by family and friends

Blind and partially sighted people’s perceptions of inclusion by family and friends are examined in a major survey of over 900 adults with low vision in the UK. Findings demonstrate a complex picture, reporting high levels of severe lack of social support in comparison to the general population especially among men, and lack of social support expressed extensively by those who were rarely or never visited by family or neighbours. Levels of reported social support were not related to the degree of severity of sight loss or age; and economically inactive respondents of working age reported lower levels of social support than those who were working. Correlation between respondents’ having hobbies and going shopping and rising levels of social support was shown. With 40% of respondents living alone, having someone visiting as little as at least once a month meant that respondents were less likely to express severe lack of social support. The concept of ‘inclusion’ is recognized as more associated with formal ideas of citizenship and participation in community life than with informal support. It is suggested that increased focus should be given in public policy development and service provision to enabling greater levels of informal inclusion for people with visual impairments. Implications for general services development are noted.

Governance and Isomorphism in Local Philanthropy

Abstract Governance issues facing local philanthropy are explored from the perspectives of grantmaking foundations, governance approaches sought locally and localized institutional vehicles, such as community foundations. Case examples of philanthropic action and governance issues are considered, in UK and Japanese contexts, and advocacy of stakeholder approaches to governance of philanthropy reviewed. The countervailing pressures of isomorphism as locally-based organizations seek to legitimate their activities, are also considered. Finally, reflections are offered on the advocacy for governance change from within the foundation world; and on the future directions for research and practice on governance in local philanthropy in demanding economic times.

Managing risk and delivering quality services: a case study perspective

Public managers throughout the world work in an unforgiving environment in which to take risks. Managers face varying pressures from a range of informed publics to ensure that risks to them are minimized or eliminated; while many are simultaneously subject to criticism, via private practice models, that they are too risk‐averse. Concurrently, leadership from public managers is sought in drives to ensure quality in public services. Risk and quality appear strongly inter‐linked, although managerial discussion of their interrelationship seems relatively rare, at least within the public domain. Links these two concepts, as they are experienced by public managers, through two pilot case studies of managerial practice in the UK, based in probation and health services. Gives consideration in each study to the contribution of understanding and managing risk as a core element in improving public services quality. The theoretical underpinnings of the research are drawn primarily from the literature on strategic man...

Developing a better understanding of community foundations in the UK's localisms

Recent UK policy emphases show growing attention to localism interconnected with philanthropy. This appears to offer significant opportunities for community foundations, geographically embedded multipurpose charities envisaged as combining various grantmaking roles with community leadership. Using a theoretical framework derived from political geography, we explore and conceptualises how community foundations conceive and operationalise their community leadership role across the UK’s localism discourses; we find their strategies and approaches to be differentiated rather than shared. This challenges the understanding of ‘community foundations’ as a single model in its UK expression and questions their envisaged potential as collective pan-UK lead-players within localism policy.

New development: Philanthropy in networked governance—treading with care

While philanthropy is widely seen as a way of filling the void left by cuts in public services, reflective debates on philanthropy, its roles and challenges, are rare. The authors outline key facets of philanthropy, as expressed through philanthropic foundations and trusts, that require further exploration within networked governance debates: our limited understanding of philanthropy and of philanthropic foundations; the increasingly neoliberal discourse of and on philanthropy; and the extent of philanthropys potential and achievements.

Risk and the public service manager

Risk aversion is said to be a characteristic of public service managers, while private sector managers learn to assess and manage risk. Too often, public managers learn about risk after the event, when a crisis is already upon them. What can be learned from established techniques of risk assessment and risk management?

Debate: Thou shalt have impact, total impact—government involvement in philanthropic foundations’ decision-making

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Mapping philanthropic foundations’ characteristics : towards an international integrative framework of foundation types

As philanthropic foundations take on increasingly prominent sociopolitical roles, the need for stronger conceptualizations of foundations as an organizational form is articulated widely across academic, policy, and practice contexts. Building on institutional research’s tradition of categorizing, classifying and typologizing organizational forms, our article critically explores the different ways in which foundations have been cast and differentiated in international academic and practice literatures. Examining and integrating these, we propose an integrative framework of foundation types. Incorporating 13 categories—three contextual, five organizational, and five strategic ones—the framework allows for clarifying distinctions and identifying commonalities between different foundation forms, offering a basis for developing more reflective and differentiated research and practice knowledge.

Debate: Collapsing collegiality in universities’ fundraising?

UK university development staff have been described as ‘a very collegiate profession’ (Warren et al., 2016), sharing knowledge and networking across their institutions (Daly, 2013). Yet in light of post-Brexit resource pressures, and fears of heightened inter-institutional competition, it seems unlikely that this characteristic is sustainable. Instead, new urgency attaching to university fundraising may see increased institutional effort to break away from the pack that is UK higher education. Immense annual funding deficits across universities’ research bases are predicted. While questionable whether philanthropy can come to the rescue, it must be expected that universities will become increasingly guarded in public but also professional disclosures on philanthropy matters. This runs counter to calls for universities’ transparency; with such philanthropic giving becoming less a public good endeavour and more a quasi-commercial, in-confidence action. Together, these pressures challenge development staff’s ability to withstand a collapse in collegiality in their field. Two sources support our argument. First, evidence given to the House of Commons Education Committee inquiry into Brexit’s effects on UK higher education (2017). Second, early findings from our current research. Committee evidence showed growing divisions among the HE ‘blocs’. For example, Universities UK and University Alliance emphasized the implications of institutions losing the large benefits accruing from EU research funding programmes. However, GuildHE asserted strongly the importance of ensuring that ‘the interests of small, specialist HEIs’ interests should not be forgotten in EU negotiations’ (Guest, 2016). Meanwhile, our own study of freedom of information (FOI) on philanthropy, across 137 UK HEIs, indicates variations in replies to questions concerning sources of giving, levels, directions, and purposes; some detailed responses but also resistance to full information disclosure. Universities are pushing away questions on anonymous donors (individuals, organizations, governments), and limiting information on donor purposes. Requests conflating philanthropic funding with business support, in areas such as fracking or solar research, are treated warily, including refusal on commercial sensitivity grounds and negative impact on further funding. ‘Data not held’ enables disclosure refusal on areas such as donors’ citizenship and gift rejection. Collectively, the content and direction of responses so far suggest heightening awareness of how universities’ fundraising may be protected, though scrutinized, in this public arena. Unsuccessful representation from the Russell Group and Universities UK for FOI exemption to the governmental Independent Commission, occurred in 2016. This, together with external funding pressures, leads us to expect that universities will be seeking to limit their public sharing of information on their philanthropic sources and trajectories. Universities’ individual and sub-sectoral interests appear likely to cause collegiality to collapse across UK universities’ fundraising workforces. Post EU, we believe that a finite number of élite universities will operate increasingly like a cartel, though with variations in competitive strategy. Lesser universities will likely be competing among themselves for leftover resources. Higher education is one UK sector where, hitherto, relations with Europe have been ‘overwhelmingly positive’ but now likely to be ‘just one part of the collateral damage’ of our current hard times (Marginson, 2017). A collapse of collegiality within university fundraising will be a demonstration of that damage.

The anatomy of management in medical research

The management structures of public bodies responsible for supporting and funding research came under scrutiny after the publication of the science White Paper in 1993. The corporate organization of the Medical Research Council is described and discussed. Exploratory research in the MRCs ‘ad personam’ research units, examining centre/locality relations is reported; and the case is made for a decentralizing model, and the separation of the organizations ‘funding’ and ‘performing’ elements. Pressures for change, to deliver accountability, and to reflect the growth of organizational distinction between ‘purchasers’ and ‘providers’ elsewhere in public services—from which this public service area seems currently immune—are considered.