The opportunities and challenges of the changing public services landscape for the third sector in Scotland: a longitudinal study (2009 – 2013) year four and final report

Abstract

The Scottish Government has acknowledged that the third sector has a key role to play in delivering public services that are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people’s needs. This study explores the experiences of third sector organisations (TSOs) in Scotland over time in response to the challenges and opportunities of the political and economic environment in which they operated over 2009-2013. During this period, the study considered the impacts of policy and funding changes on TSOs and organisational responses to change. TSOs have enacted radical change to their internal management and Board structures to better align their function with the changing external environment.