Public Policy, Social Policy and Voluntary Organisations

In this chapter, I want to address some of the main implications for voluntary organisations of the changes in public policy now taking place across the developed world. One of the most significant trends in voluntary action in the UK over the 1990s has been the closer relations that have been developing between voluntary agencies and the state, both locally and nationally (Kendall and Knapp, 1996). These developing relationships have taken a variety of different forms, ranging from new funding arrangements to active institutional partnerships.