The new local government performance framework includes a single set of 198 National Indicators. These indicators cover all the national priority outcomes which local authorities will be responsible for delivering, either on their own or in partnership with others. These indicators will be used to measure performance in all areas over the next three years.

What is the Third Sector?

NI 7 measures the contribution that local government and its partners make to the environment in which independent third sector organisations can operate successfully.

How is this contribution measured?

The Local Councils in Wiltshire and B&NES have commissioned services from DEVELOP in B&NES and GROW (a project created in partnership between DEVELOP and Voluntary Action Kennet) in Wiltshire, to support the development of Third Sector Organisations, help them deliver their services more effectively and ensure their long term viability and sustainability.

NI7 has been included as a government priority in the National Indicator set in recognition of:

• The importance of the third sector to strong, active and empowered local communities. A vibrant, diverse and independent third sector is a vital part of a fair and enterprising society. It can help communities to be more cohesive and inclusive, and help individuals to have more say over issues that affect them.

• The value of the third sector to responsive and effective local government. The third sector can help local statutory agencies to address a wide range of community concerns, from strengthening community cohesion; to increasing environmental sustainability; to tackling many of the causes and consequences of social and economic disadvantage. Third sector organisations can often have links into parts of the community that statutory agencies can struggle to engage with, and may be especially good at providing holistic solutions to complex or deep rooted problems.

• The value of local government to the third sector. There are many factors that contribute to a thriving, independent local third sector. Many of these are rightly beyond the influence of local government and its partners. Local statutory agencies can, however, be influential in shaping the environment in which third sector organisations work. This influence might be through, for example, their approaches to partnership working, consultation, funding relationships, or in the ways they commission and procure services. Sometimes this influence is direct and specific. In other circumstances it may be diffuse and broad. Taking account of this range, NI 7 is designed to capture the overall contribution made by local statutory agencies to the environment in which third sector organisations operate.

The above information has been taken from the Office of the Third Sector publication ' Briefing for Local Strategic Partnerships NI 7: ‘ENVIRONMENT FOR A THRIVING THIRD SECTOR' To Download the full publication as a pdf please go to the Cabinet Office Website

Wiltshire Council have  produced a 'Two Minute Guide to National Indicator 7 - creating a thriving third sector' Download here.

What is the Third Sector?

For further information on the National Indicators see the NAVCA website.