Refreshed national Compact document

[S Living]

On 16 December 2009, the refreshed national Compact document was launched. Developed following months of consultation, the new Compact is leaner, more focussed and reflects the changing operating environment for the partnership between government and the voluntary sector.

At a glance - changes in the new Compact http://www.compactvoice.org.uk/informat ... sh/#glance
Statement of support from the voluntary sector http://www.compactvoice.org.uk/informat ... #statement
Quotes from the voluntary sector http://www.compactvoice.org.uk/informat ... sh/#quotes

At a glance - changes in the new Compact
Here's a quick summary of some of the changes to the Compact document, noting some commitments have remained the same, such as 12-week consultation periods, 3 year funding and 3 month notice periods at the end of funding.

Firstly it is now just one document: shorter and more accessible. Secondly the ‘Achieving Equality’ section broadens out many undertakings to cover the whole equality sector, which in the previous Compact and Codes related only to the BME sector.

New commitments for Government:
• working towards a single safety check for volunteers who are volunteering for more than one cause (19.7)
• funding agreements to ensure that all sub-contractors which work with the voluntary sector have to follow Compact commitments (6.3)
• applying Compact commitments when distributing European funding (6.4)
• making payments within 10 days of invoices being received (11.2)
• ensuring that all third sector organisations have equal opportunities to access government funding programmes. This includes access to funds to build capacity (19.3)

New commitments for the voluntary sector:
• being clear on who they represent and how their views have been gathered (4.3)
• applying Compact principles when sub-contracting to other voluntary organisations (15.4)
• giving early notice to funders of significant changes in management, financial or other risks (17.4)

While we welcome these new commitments, the principles from the original still form the heart of the document. Implementation of the original commitments has been good in places and poor in others, so they must now all be championed and embedded in our ways of working. If this occurs, we can look forward to partnership working between the sector and government which will truly transform the lives of people and communities for the better.

Statement from the voluntary sector
Read a statement of support for the new Compact, which is endorsed by the chief executives of NCVO, Volunteering England, NAVCA and ACEVO. http://www.compactvoice.org.uk/files/10 ... ations.pdf

Statement of support for refreshed Compact (PDF 180KB)

Quotes from the voluntary sector
“With pressure on public finance and increased competition for funding, so establishing and sustaining partnership between public and community and voluntary sector organisations becomes more challenging. In this context the refreshed Compact is vital. A useful tool, the refreshed Compact is easier to understand and simple to use. It provides a sharper focus, explaining how public and third sector organisations can work together more effectively, creating better outcomes for communities. Recommended.”

Andy Turner – Church Urban Fund

“The refreshed Compact contains a range of commitments which will benefit volunteer-involving organisations and we welcome the launch of the document. With Compact commitments now applying to European funding and to sub-contractors, a broader spectrum of volunteering projects will now be covered by the Compact.’

Alan Strickland, Senior Policy & Information Manager - Volunteering England

[Alex]

Call me cynical but this should have been renamed the Third Sector Con Trick. Since when has the statutory sector ever honoured either the spirit or the letter of this? I get the impression they like to keep us occupied with one idea which they'll never honour whilst busily stitching up the rest of the system & then delegating the consequences to our sector. Bah Humbug!!