§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 9 March 1998,Official Report, column 16, which of the recommendations of the Deakin Commission report he plans to implement; and if there will be any divergence from the Government response outlined in "Raising the Voltage". [36571]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Government recognise the valuable contribution of the Deakin Commission Report to the debate about the relationship between the Government and the voluntary sector. The majority of the Report's recommendations were directed not to the Government but to others, particularly voluntary organisations themselves. The document, "Raising the Voltage", published in November 1996, was the previous Government's response to the Deakin Commission Report. It rejected a key recommendation that a 'concordat' between central Government and the voluntary sector should be drawn up, as a code of good practice, for future relations.
The conclusions of the Deakin Commission Report helped inform the policies contained in the document, "Building the Future Together", published in March 1997 by this Government when in Opposition. "Building the Future Together" proposed the establishment of a compact as a framework for future relations between Government and the voluntary sector. Policy towards the voluntary sector will be developed within that framework.