I have just read the select committee report on Every Child Matters. There is no mention whatsoever in the summary of the place of voluntary and community groups in delivering this radically new agenda.
I was recently at a regional conference led and attended by Department for Education and Skills staff and it was exactly the same exclusive thinking there.
If the government does not have an inclusive vision for the involvement of the voluntary sector - never mind parents and children - a huge opportunity will be lost, which I doubt will occur again because many voluntary sector groups will not be around to be responsive.
Muriel Weisz
Director, Southwell
Diocesan Council for Family Care
