Third sector partnership working framework updated to bring in local authorities

The Commission for the Compact has updated its Compact document setting out best practice for partnership working between public sector bodies and voluntary organisations, in part to make it more relevant to local authorities.

One of the main aims of updating the guidance was to ensure that it was more relevant to local authorities by taking account of the implications of the new local performance framework, Local Strategic Partnerships, Local Area Agreements and the Comprehensive Area Assessment. The new guidance places a greater emphasis on public bodies to explain and justify the decisions they make.

Although most Compact agreements involve local third sector organisations and their local public sector partners and are therefore not subject to the national Compact, the Commission is keen for local partnerships to use principles from the national framework.

The Compact highlights the shared principles which parties should follow when engaging in partnership working, in three key areas: involvement in policy development, the allocation of resources and the advancement of equality. It consists of 95 commitments: 62 for government and 33 for the third sector. The new document also emphasises the independence of third sector organisations and their right to campaign and comment on government policy and reaffirms the government and third sector’s commitments to 12-week consultation and three-year funding.

The key changes include:

Involvement in policy development

There is a new commitment to involving the third sector in policy development rather than just on consultation exercises, as well as making the Compact more consistent with other codes of practice and guidance in this area such as the Government Code of Practice on Consultation. It also addresses  the consulting organisations’ obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and provides clearer guidance on how people who represent and speak for the third sector should undertake this role.

Allocating resources

The Compact introduces new commitments for government to:

* Extend the scope of the Compact to ensure that prime and sub-contractors and all other public and private bodies work within Compact principles when distributing money.
* Engage early with third sector organisations in the design of services and programmes.
* Allow enough time for consortia and partnership bids.
* Apply Compact commitments when distributing EU funding.
* Make payments within 10 days of invoices being received.
* Consider how service users can be involved in monitoring and reporting.

Advancing equality

The equality section has been broadened from a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) focus to apply across all equality strands expanded to include:

* Equality impact assessment, which relates more closely to equality law.
* A renewed emphasis on support for equality infrastructure organisations.
* A clear commitment to “fair and equal access to funding”.
* Clarification that “single group funding” can promote cohesion.

The new Compact replaces the five Codes of Practice which accompanied the previous version with an overall set of commitments backed up by a series of implementation guidance for specific sectors or types of relationship. “The Compact will set the overall “rules of engagement” between the public sector and third sector while the implementation guidance will give them specific pointers on how to make these a reality in particular situations,” the Commission said.

The original Compact was published in November 1998 and the updated version follows a period of consultation and the approval of the Office of the Third Sector and Compact Voice, an independent body which represents the voluntary and community sector in the development of the Compact.

The chair of Compact Voice, Simon Blake, said: “The refreshed Compact is clearer, more effective and had the support of the majority of consultation responses.  Effective use of the Compact by both the third and public sectors will be vital in the coming period and success will depend on both commitment and resource.”

Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner for the Compact, said:  “The process of refreshing the Compact has been challenging - the process of reconciling often diverse points of view is never easy - but it demonstrates to me the importance of this agreement because it is the result of so much animated and positive discussion. It was never going to be easy to refresh and update a document that is 10 years old and is highly valued by both national and local government and by the third sector. However, the original principles are as important today as they ever were and remain an integral part of the refreshed Compact.”

The full text of the compact can be downloaded here.