§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he proposes to take any steps to improve the links between social service departments and voluntary organisations.
§ Mr. NewtonThe Government fully support the principles which representatives of voluntary organisations and the local authorities themselves drew up in the report "Working Together", published by the local authority associations and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. The application of these principles to relationships locally is a matter for the parties concerned. There are, however, a number of recent research projects whose results bear on this question, including some commissioned by the Department. In a variety of ways over the coming months we will be seeking to secure dissemination of and stimulate interest in this material. Ministers also give active support to such initiatives as the series of regional conferences on promoting partnership in child care, organised by the National Council of Child Care Voluntary Organisations, of which the latest is being held in Leeds today.