DCMS Publish Research on Local Infrastructure

DCMS have published the findings of a 12 month research project, carried out in 2024 on Local Civil Society Infrastructure [LCSI]. The purpose of the research was to develop the evidence base on LCSI in England by identifying the positive impacts of effective LCSI, the negative impacts of its absence and the conditions and approaches for building effective LCSI in areas where it is weak or non-existent. The synthesis report is extensive and presents an incredibly complex and nuanced picture of LCSI. This first briefing for NAVCA members offers an overview of the main findings. Further briefings and resources will be produced as the findings are unpacked further.


This newsletter provides you with the headlines and implications. A full briefing can be read here. 
A public blog is available here.

Headlines
1.    There is no agreed definition of the organisations and functions of LCSI.
2.    LCSI was identified to have five functions: facilitating funding, organisational development, advocacy, volunteering and community participation, and convening.
3.    The most direct benefits from LCSI accrue to frontline VCSE organisations; with benefits to local communities through stronger frontline organisations and increased volunteering activities; and statutory bodies gain a greater insight of local needs, improvements in commissioning processes and local policy decisions.
4.    LCSI is considered to be sufficient when it is characterised by the quality of the provision and the adaptation to the local context rather than by the extent of coverage.
5.    The most important factor in the quality of LCSI provision is being knowledgeable about the local area.
6.    LCSI organisations were seen as an effective bridge that can support open and honest communication between the VCS and public bodies especially in context of funding or commissioning relationships.
7.    LCSI activities led to three broad outcome pathways of: better targeted resources, improved policy making, and increased community trust, empowerment and belonging.
8.    There are no simple or straightforward answers to the question of how best to organise, support and strengthen LCSI.
9.    Local infrastructure operates in a context in which there is no centralised point of power or decision-making and no universally agreed perspective on what it should do, how it should do it and how well it is doing.
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10.    LCSI works best when there is a close relationship with the public sector. This is easiest to achieve when decision-makers in local government and health systems take a strategic interest in LCSI that comes from a recognition of its value and its ability to contribute to their own priorities.

11.    Strengthening LCSI will almost certainly continue to rest on taking a local first approach and on ensuring that any reform is delivered with patience, sufficient resource and recognition of local concern and sensitivities.

12.    Enabling strong LCSI is based on a combination of factors: funding, local knowledge, effective relationships and local buy-in.



Implications 
There are no simple or straightforward answers to the question of how best to organise, support and strengthen LCSI. LCSI is by its very nature local and so:

• LCSI is fundamentally embedded in and related to local context and history of the VCS, the communities in which it operates, relationships with statutory stakeholders
• the value of LCSI is negotiated amongst multiple stakeholders and realised in each place in the legitimacy, trust and connections LCSI makes and facilitates
• LCSI is at its best when it meets the needs of a local place through:
  o    forging relationships to build bridges across and between sectors
  o    understanding and working through the power dynamics within the VCS sector and with statutory bodies and funders
• LCSI’s strongest claims for impact are in strengthening and joining at the VCS to better target resources to meet the needs of communities.

Strong LCSI is based on a combination of factors, drawing on funding as well as local knowledge, relationships and local buy-in. 





Stakeholders identified three areas that can support the improvement of LCSI:

1. Addressing key challenges within the funding system
2. Enhancing strategic buy-in from local decision-makers, including by:
3. Building on good-quality relationships to develop more formal structures, increasing resilience to change and reflecting the local context, supported by a formal approach to ensuring the inclusivity of LCSI that supports all communities and organisations.

Member Information

• This research is good news for local infrastructure and strongly supports the case for local, quality provision. 
• The conclusions mirror those of Walking a Tightrope NAVCA’s commissioned research published in January 2025. 
• The research identified five functions that LCSI provide, and these overlap with the Four Functions of Local Infrastructure and the outcomes for Local Infrastructure Quality Accreditation. 
• The research is extensive, complex and nuanced. NAVCA will provide members with a series of briefings and resources to help you use the research to support your work. 

Six research reports have been published which include an evidence review, quantitative data analysis, survey findings, case studies and ‘what works.’ The synthesis report is extensive and presents an incredibly complex and nuanced picture of LCSI. All six reports can be accessed via: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-civil-society-infrastructure-lcsi-rd-programme-final-reports ​