Introduction

One of the strongest policy themes of successive Conservative governments during the study period was a dislike and a suspicion of the local authority as the dominant provider of welfare services (Means and Smith, 1998b). They were perceived as expensive and unresponsive to the needs of the consumer. Welfare pluralism (Johnson, 1987) or the mixed economy of social care (Wistow et al, 1994) was seen as offering a much more fruitful way forward. Reactions to this perspective were varied with concerns expressed about both the use of the private sector as a service provider (Langan, 1990) and about the potential loss of autonomy of the voluntary sector as a result of a move towards a contract culture (Deakin, 1996; Lewis, 1993). At the same time, there was also recognition of the possibilities created by the mixed economy, as emphasised by Taylor and Hoggett (1994, p 185):

This chapter explores the development of the mixed economy in services for older people in the four local authorities and specifically how the role of the voluntary sector changed during the study period. However, the chapter begins by commenting on the already changing role of voluntary organisations involved with older people during the 1960s.

The voluntary sector and older people in the 1960s

In their previous study, the authors profiled the changing role of the voluntary sector in the provision of welfare services for older people from 1939 to 1971 (Means and Smith, 1998a). During the Second World War, voluntary organisations such as the British Red Cross Society, the National Old People’s Welfare Committee (NOPWC) (now Age Concern) and the Women’s (Royal) Voluntary Service (WRVS) developed a range of innovative services such as small residential homes, meals on wheels, luncheon clubs and visiting services.