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Third Sector Review

Indeed; we do not want to get into a discussion of that, but the third way has certainly lost its way. We should talk about ““civil society””, rather than patronise the sector by using terms such as the ““third sector””. As the hon. Member for Loughborough (Mr. Reed) said, we should instead be talking of it as the first sector; often people have come together through voluntary initiatives before the commercial or public sector get involved. I hope that that point is merely a question of terminology, and that it does not indicate positions in the pecking order. The hon. Member for South Swindon (Anne Snelgrove) gave a thumbnail sketch of the situation in Swindon. It showed how weak the Compact has been in practice. The Compact should protect charities from certain pressures; it makes it clear that they should not be constrained in their activities by unreasonable demands from funders. The Ministers with responsibility for the office of the third sector face the challenge of how to move beyond Whitehall and make a difference in our local authority areas. The hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) touched on campaigning, which we have thoroughly aired, and finally, the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman) made a bravura contribution. Unaccountably, he has now disappeared. Having not been present for much of the debate, and then having entertained us with his account of the amazing number of social enterprises he has created, he has now left us with the impression of that speech but without the ability to congratulate him in person on it. He has obviously gone to create another social enterprise—for which I am sure that we are all relieved and delighted, as he will not now intervene on the wind-up speeches. It was high time we had a debate on the third sector; it is many years since the last one. It is a bit of a shame that the debate took place on a Thursday afternoon when some Members had returned to their constituencies, but I hope it will not be so long before we have a chance to discuss this subject again.