In a reply to a parliamentary question, Home Office Minister Fiona Mactaggart, revealed that a new committee had been formed by the Home Office "to consider the most effective means of achieving greater involvement of the faith communities in policy-making and delivery across Whitehall; to identify the specific policy areas where this input would be most valuable; to oversee the agenda of the Working Group, and to comment on and monitor its work." Ms Mactaggart said that the Group included a number of Ministers from departments with a particular interest, as well as a raft of religious appointees.

She said that Prime Minister, Tony Blair "attaches considerable importance" to the group, which included representatives from the Evangelical Alliance, Catholic organisations, the Muslim Council of Britain, National Council of Hindu Temples,

Network of Sikh Organisations, the Chief Rabbi, Baha’is and, of course, the omnipresent and mandatory bishop - on this occasion the Bishop of Leicester. Ms Mactaggart said: "It will lay the foundations for the effective long-term involvement of the faith communities’ perspectives and needs in policy development across Government, building on excellent work that is already being done, for instance in ensuring that Prison chaplaincy provision meets the needs of inmates from many faith communities. It also complements the work my Department is doing to deepen engagement with individual communities through ministerial visits and meetings."