In his book In Search of Civil Society, Nicholas Deakin (2001: 205) states that while voluntary action has long been the state's partner in a broadly dually beneficent relationship, as the 21st century progresses and this relationship changes, we must ask ‘on whose terms will this change be made?’ In this chapter, we will examine the relationship between charity and policy, and the role that charities’ symbolic power plays in helping or hindering their position as influencers, and their role as a set of bodies with considerable expertise in tackling social problems, and as contributors to policy direction and delivery (Hilton et al, 2013). It will briefly examine the changing nature of the UK charity sector's relationship with government over recent years, focusing on why government wanted the sector closely involved in delivering policy, and then how the UK voluntary sector has become less favoured (and increasingly challenged) under the coalition and Conservative governments post 2010, in part due to a perceived decline in charity's status as ‘special’.

While the role and contributions of non-profit organisations in the policy process have been outlined as to identify issues, develop solutions and promote those solutions through mobilisation, demonstration and advocacy (Evans et al, 2017), the ability and the right of the UK voluntary sector to do so has been questioned. Drawing on interviewee data, this chapter will look at how the sector gets (or doesn't get) its voice heard, and how in the UK a more critical approach to austerity politics has affected its ability to intervene in political debate. As with many institutions, the charity sector is struggling to come to terms with a new harsher financial landscape while finding itself under immense social scrutiny and political pressure. The data shows how interviewees feel the sector is caught in a web of competing interests, and therefore frequently fails to make best use of its resources.