§ 52. Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy towards the contribution that voluntary organisations can make to the social services.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe Wolfenden report on the future of voluntary organisations made the point that in the personal social services the voluntary sector is clearly larger in terms of manpower than the statutory sector. Over much of this field I regard the primary role of the statutory services to be to provide professional guidance and a framework within which the community as a whole can help and care for the old, the handicapped, the chronically sick and the deprived in their midst. Voluntary organisations, along with informal networks, self-help groups, neighbourhood schemes and the like, will always be a principal means of delivery of such help and care.