A new advisor to the Cabinet Office has been appointed to identify and promote opportunities for voluntary and charitable organisations to support the creation of better public services. The Labour MP for Stirling, Anne McGuire, will take on the role of Advisor on Third Sector Innovation.

The new post will see her investigating the part that third sector organisations can play in giving people more power to contribute to the design and delivery of more personalised public services. She will focus initially on health and social care services, moving on later to look at other areas.

The Minister for the Third Sector, Kevin Brennan, said Anne McGuire had extensive experience of public service reform and the third sector. As a former Minister for Disability she had worked closely with a range of health and social care organisations. She also had particular expertise in the role that disability organisations could play in driving the transformation of health and social care provision. Mr. Brennan added, “Anne also has extensive experience in the third sector, as a former Deputy Director of the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations and as a volunteer for adults with learning disabilities.”

Ms McGuire said she was looking forward to drawing on her experience which she believed would enable her to inform and promote opportunities for the third sector to build on world class public services. Mr. Brennan said the new role would be part of an important programme of work for the Government and the third sector and would build on the Office of the Third Sector’s support for the Innovation Exchange and its continuing commitment to harnessing and cultivating the third sector’s contribution to the future of public services.