Introduction

One of the key features distinguishing the first Blair administration fromits Labour predecessors was its espousal of non-statutory welfare. Shunnedor marginalised by postwar Labour policies, Blair’s government soughtto encompass voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) and commercialservice providers within its emergent vision of the future welfare edifice.This vision was initially conveyed through a somewhat disparate set ofelection commitments in which the Party (HMG, 2000) set out to:

• • introduce Individual Savings Accounts (33);

• • reinvigorate the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) (37);

• • overcome NHS PFI problems (63);

• • establish a Royal Commission on Long Term Care (100);

• • introduce a Long-Term Care Charter (101);

• • introduce Independent Inspection of Nursing Homes andDomiciliary Care (102);

• • develop a National Citizens Service Programme (124).

But it was also embedded in a broader and more imposing list of proposalsthat included: its pledge to cut NHS waiting lists (5); the Manifestocommitments to improve the NHS, strengthen communities and modernise welfare(6 and 7): and the more detailed assurances addressing issues ranging frompre-school provision to urban regeneration. In these instances, however, thesignificance of independent providers, particularly from the commercialsector, only surfaced gradually during the government’s firstterm.

This chapter addresses the nature and translation of New Labour’svision for independent welfare, and looks at governmental andnon-governmental evaluations of its success and the broader policy issues itposes. It is as much about the vision as its instigation, primarily becausethe approach to independent providers was uneven and evaluations weresparse. Translations into practical agendas differed in timescale and inapproach to the different types of provider,and, in terms of commercialwelfare per se, varied from market to market. Encased in the language of‘partnership’, the translation for voluntary providers wasmore fully developed from the outset and centred on establishingcross-agency mechanisms to further the reconfiguration of Britain’swelfare mix. By comparison, those for commercial providers spoke of market‘harnessing’ and sought, either through enhanced regulation orparticular types of partnerships, to respond to market-specific, oftenexigency-driven, issues.

Building strong communities: New Labour’s aspirations forVCOs

In its own eyes, and indeed those of many VCOs, New Labour entered officewith the aim of recasting voluntary provision. It sought to enhanceVCOs’ policy-making role, extend their service-delivery capacity andaccord them a central set of responsibilities. This contrasts quite markedlywith the precepts of earlier governments.