An emphasis on more professionalism in public services has been one of the mantras of the Labour government since 1997.
Today's announcement of the new board for the skills body for the third sector, and its new chair, Jane Slowey, is another indication of the increasing inclusion of the third sector in that programme of professionalism, particularly in relation to workforce development.
Skills - Third Sector was set up at the beginning of this year as an independent body, with the remit to identify and address skills gaps and shortages for charities, voluntary groups, social enterprises and other third sector organisations.
Jane Slowey takes up her post on Wednesday
It was announced last year by then minister for the third sector, Kevin Brennan, with joint funding of £2.5m over three years from the Office of the Third Sector and the then-department for innovation, universities and skills, now the department of business, innovation and skills.
The new board and chair take over this Wednesday, 1 July and the new body is "hosted" by Skills for Justice, the sector skills council for the justice sector and has a board of trustees that outgoing interim chair, Dame Mary Marsh, director of the Clore Foundation's social leadership programme, described as strong and diverse.
"This new pan-sector skills body has made good progress in getting established over the last six months," said Marsh. "It has the opportunity to be a powerful catalyst in the development of the skills of the third sector workforce with both volunteers and employees."
The board includes Lesley-Anne Alexander, the chief executive of the RNIB and chair of the Association of chief executives of voluntary organisations, Richard Hawkes, international programmes director of Voluntary Service Overseas, and Dvinder Sandhu, national learning and workforce development officer at union Unison.
It also includes Cheryl Turner, of the Learning and Skills Council, Julie Wilkes, chief executive of Voluntary Action Wakefield, and James Gardner, who is chief executive of the Kent Students' Union.
The formation of a body for third sector skills has been welcomed; some would like it to lead to further workforce development, such as the creation of apprenticeship schemes for the third sector.
Emma-Jane Cross, chief executive of bullying prevention charity, Beatbullying, says it is "perplexing" that the third sector, which contributes £45bn to the economy and employs hundreds of thousands of citizens, does not have apprenticeships.
