0-19: Letter; Glaring Omission

Glaring Omission

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