CYP Now - Interview: Helping charities change - Maggie Jones, National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations

When Erica D'Eath became chief executive of the National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations (NCVCCO) in 1996, Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election was six months away. Since then the map of children's services has been redrawn. Now, in the wake of another Labour victory, Maggie Jones, D'Eath's successor, faces the challenge of making sure the voluntary sector is properly represented as changes take hold on the frontline.

"The NCVCCO and others capitalised on political support for change," says Jones. "The policy raft that's been created now needs building on for the sector to get the most out of it without losing what makes it distinctive - innovation, specialisation and energy."

Although the voluntary sector's links with local authorities are becoming stronger, Jones doesn't see this as presenting a danger to its independence.

"We don't want to be quasi-state agencies, but no one confuses us with the state," she says. "It's true that we are contracting services for the local state but that doesn't interfere with our capacity to innovate or speak out."

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