Much praise have been lavished on voluntary organisations as ministers have sought to engage their expertise and passion in the provision of public services ranging from drug counselling to nurseries. But too often, government still treats such organisations as difficult relatives rather than as feisty people with a contribution to make.

While Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, was relaunching the Government’s “compact” (the new Labourspeak for partnership) with voluntary organisations on Tuesday, SANE, the mental health charity, announced that its telephone helpline may have to close because of behaviour by the Department of Health that would have had any commercial contractor reaching for its lawyers months ago.

Since SANE was launched 19 years ago, it and its dedicated founder, Marjorie Wallace, have done a great deal to advance the cause of those who suffer from mental illness. Its telephone helpline, Saneline, responds to about 1,000 calls a week from distressed people, including children and their carers. The service is highly professional. Its giant national database means that a mother from London worried about a son in Newcastle can get information and support in both areas. And its highly trained volunteers often call vulnerable callers repeatedly to sustain them through a crisis.

As a result, about a third of calls to SANE are referred by health professionals, NHS Direct or other charities. SANE claims that it is written into the official care plans of one in ten callers. It is thus a valuable arm of the State, saving NHS time and preventing an untold number of tragedies in a country where 170,000 people a year attend A&E having harmed themselves.

The Department of Health, however, appears to take a different view. It has refused to renew its £1 million annual contract with Saneline, which expires on March 31. And it was so late in paying last year’s grant — 11 months late, according to the charity, after months of denying that it owed the money — that SANE had to draw heavily on its reserves and lost several funders because its auditors were un-able to sign off the accounts. This is no way to treat a charity acting in good faith on slim margins. According to the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, the Government’s failure to pay on time and its lack of transparency and open dialogue — the charity was instructed not to talk publicly about its contract — have breached its compact with the community sector.

The Government has limited funds, of course. And it has a vision of a seamless national helpline service for the mentally ill. But without Saneline it will be hard pressed to achieve this. The impression is that common sense has been overtaken by bureaucracy and petty jealousies. Advocates such as Mrs Wallace are rare assets. Their energies should not be eroded by unnecessary bureaucratic battles. Ministers have much to learn from this episode about the reality of official attitudes to voluntary sector contracts, and need to move swiftly to rescue Saneline before it becomes unable to respond to the desperate cries for help.