Researching the third sector role in public policy making: challenges and opportunities
The third sector now has opportunities as never before to contribute to and influence the development and implementation of public policy: public consultation is mandatory, increased channels of communication offer rapid easy access to policy makers and a raft of intermediary bodies at both national and local level act as a two-way conduit for information and influence between the third sector and Government. Voluntary Health Scotland has carried out several surveys aiming to find out the degree of third sector engagement with NHS structures and policies, with a view to advocating for and supporting better mutual engagement. In doing so, VHS has identified a number of challenges and opportunities facing national intermediary bodies in particular when engaging in research on behalf of their stakeholders. In this presentation, VHS draws on its own work to explore the role of national intermediaries as researchers in policy making.
