Jargon Buster

Guide to Commonly Used Third and Public Sector Acronyms

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

AAHB - Ayrshire and Arran Health Board
Accruals / Accrued Accounts - The accruals basis allocate the costs or income of a particular activity according to when the liabilityis incurred or when there is entitlement or certainty about income.

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B

BIG - Big Lottery Fund

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C

CDWG - Compact Development Working Group
CEO – Chief Executive Officer
CL&D - Community Learning and Development
COM ED - Community Education
CHP - Community Health Partnership
COMMUNITY GROUP - Community Groups are groups established for specific areas of activity, geographic or areas of interest, which aim to bring about change in the community and benefit local neighbourhoods.
CIC - COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY – a legal structure and a subset of the company limited by guarantee and company limited by shares structures. May be suitable for social entrepreneurs who wish to develop an enterprise and employ themselves in it.
COMPACT - A partnership agreement between public agencies and the voluntary and community sector (Third Sector) to work together to improve the quality of life for people and communities in South Ayrshire.
COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE – a legal structure for not-for-profit organisations and charities. As a legal entity the company can employstaff and enter contracts, but there is a limited liability of £1 per member in the event of the company going into liquidation.
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES – a legal entity and has the same liability as a Company Limited by Guarantee..
CONCORDAT - An agreement between COSLA and the Scottish Government which sets out a new working relationship between the Scottish Government and Local Authorities based on partnership working, joint accountability and mutual respect
CO-PRODUCTION - A general description of the process whereby clients work alongside professionals as partners in the delivery of services
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) - A wide ranging set of concepts that relate to businesses conducting their activities responsibly. Factors include environmental impacts, employee and customer health and safety issues, participation in local communities (being a good neighbour), good corporate governance, other social issues and ethical and fair trading. CSR proponents argue that these issues are core to the long term sustainability of all businesses and apply equally to both small locally based businesses and large multi-national listed companies.
COSLA - Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
CPP - Community Planning Partnership
CSS - Council for Social Service
CVO - Council for Voluntary Organisations
CVSN - Council for Voluntary Service Network

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D

DWP - Department of Work and Pensions

E

EFQM – European Foundation for Quality Management
External Scrutiny – Is where an Individual who is independent of the organisation will review the accounts and produce a report, attached to the accounts, that highlights any issues to the reader.

F

G

H

HB - Health Board
HEBS - Health Education Board Scotland

I

Industrial and Provident Society – is a legal entity with limited liability which is regulated via the Financial Services Authority (FSA) rather than Companies House.
IE – Independent Examination- One of the two forms of external scrutiny that may be carried out under the statutory provisions in Scotland, and is particularly appropriate for smaller charities
IIP - Investors in People
IIV - Investing in Volunteers
IMPACT MEASUREMENT – A measurement of the impact that organisations, agencies and groups have on their communities
INTERFACE - A mechanism / structure to enable communication and connection between the Third Sector and CPP

J

K

L

LA - Local Authority
LOCALISM - Partnership and joint working to deliver local solutions which meet national directives and assist the Scottish Government achieve its objectives
LLP - Lifelong Learning Partnership
LLP – Limited Liability Partnership “partnerships established with a view to profit”, very unlikely to be eligible for charitable status.
LSEN – Local Social Economy Network
LSEP - Local Social Economy Partnership

M

MC - Management Committee
MCMC – Young people requiring More Choices, More Chances to succeed
MSP - Member of Scottish Parliament
MV AWARDS- Youth Volunteering Awards recognized by the Scottish Government

N

NHS A&A - NHS Ayrshire & Arran

O

OUTCOME - The change that an activity or range of activities will bring about
OUTPUT - A specific, measurable result of an action taken
OSCR - The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator

P

PEST – Political, Economic, Social and Technical
PRTC - Princess Royal Trust for Carers
PPF - Public Partnership Forum

Q

R

Receipts & Payments Accounts – Is a simple form of accounting that consist of a summary of all monies received and paid via the bank and in cash by the organisation.
RPG - Regeneration Partnership Group
ROSPA - Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents

S

SAC - South Ayrshire Council
SAMH - Scottish Association Mental Health
SCIO – Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation - a new legal structure which can be adopted by community groups. Aimed at voluntary associations who will be able to become a SCIO and have limited liability as a result. This new entity will be regulated through OSCR.
SCVO - Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
SEA - Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire
SENSCOT – Social Enterprise Network Scotland
SAWET - South Ayrshire Waste & Environment Trust
SG - Steering Group
SILO – When directors, departments, managers, teams or staff may be high performers individually but fail to co-ordinate their activity to create peak performance for the organisation
SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound
SMT – Senior Management Team
SOA - SINGLE OUTCOME AGREEMENT- A commitment from community planning partners to work as a partnership to jointly deliver outcomes which will improve the quality of life economically and socially in South Ayrshire
SOCIAL ECONOMY – can be defined as the trading between Third Sector organisations and the private, public and voluntary sectors.
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE – a commercially run, profit making organisation that is driven by social aims and the profits are reinvested into social, community or environmental objectives.
SPMG - Strategic Plan Management Group
SROI – Social Return on Investment - an analytic tool for measuring and accounting for a much broader concept of value. It incorporates social, environmental and economic costs and benefits into decision making, providing a fuller picture of how value is created or destroyed
SSEC – Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition
SVA - Supporting Voluntary Action – A programme to strengthen local support for the voluntary sector in Scotland from 2007 2012 – funded by BLF, managed by SCVO
SWOT – Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

T

TAR - Trustees Annual Report
TFN - Third Force News
THIRD SECTOR - Widely used for organisations which operate on a not-for-profit basis which includes community groups, voluntary groups / associations, charities and social enterprises engaged in trading
THEMATIC GROUP - A group of people who meet with the same common interest
TRUSTS - This type of charity might be set up by a group wishing to distribute the funds left in a will for a particular purpose.

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U

UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION - A simple legal structure, with no statutory rules, offering a democratic structure best suited to small organisations who do not employ staff or own property

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V

VAS – Voluntary Action Scotland - elected body of representatives from Third Sector Interfaces and the sectors lobbying body with the Scottish Government.
VASA – Voluntary Action South Ayrshire
VIOs - Volunteering Involving Organisations
VOL ORGS - Voluntary Organisations
VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION/ORGANISATION - An unincorporated not for profit organisation which has a constitution and is managed by a committee of voluntary managers.
VDS - Volunteer Development Scotland

W

WEA - Workers Educational Association
WSRN - West of Scotland Regional Network
WG - Working Group
WTG - Working Together Group

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X

Y

Z