For twelve years New Labour as the governing party of the UK was apparently obsessed with control, ensuring as far as possible that every aspect of government policy remained centrally directed. However, there was also a growth in the use and importance of third sector agencies in the delivery, and latterly, in the strategic development of, public policy. This created an implementation gap in the delivery of policy and a problem in ensuring that key policy makers from the third sector remain ‘on-message’. In this paper we will demonstrate the difficulties that existed in retaining control while decentralising the delivery and development of public policy.