The English Compact - an overseas model

The refreshed English Compact is slashed from 160 pages to 22 and sets out how public and third sector organisations should treat each other.

Five old codes of practice have been removed and the agreement has been broken down into three areas covering policy development, resource allocation and equality. A new section on 'advancing equality' has commitments to fair and equal access to funding. This was added because Voice4Change England raised concerns during the consultation process that losing the BME code would have a negative effect on third sector organisations working with minority groups.

The new Compact places a greater emphasis on government and public bodies explaining and justifying the decisions they make.
It reaffirms the independence of third sector organisations and their right to campaign and comment on government policy.
The new agreement sets a clear agenda for future partnership, stating:

• any organisation subcontracting public service delivery contracts to third sector groups should abide by the Compact's principles
• public bodies should make payments to third sector organisations within 10 days of an invoice being received
• Compact principles should apply to the distribution of EU funding
• third sector organisations should be actively involved in policy development, rather than just consultation exercises.

Following extensive discussion on the future of the Compact in 2008 and agreement at the Compact Annual Meeting in December 2008, work got underway to refresh the Compact. A series of Refresh Panel meetings involving senior figures from across government and the third sector helped to inform the process of refreshing the Compact. A 12-week public consultation took place from 20 July to 12 October 2009.

The Office for the Third Sector proposed that the original Compact between the Government and third sector in England be revised. The draft new version, which at 56-pages was about a third of the size of the original, also replaces five existing stand-alone 'codes of conduct' (on funding and procurement, consultation and policy appraisal, volunteering, community groups, and black and minority ethnic groups) with three sections on involvement in policy development, allocating resources and commissioning and achieving equality. The draft Compact contained 96 undertakings for signatories, compared with almost 500 in the original Compact.

The Compact consultation provided valuable feedback from both public and third sector organisations on how they would like the Compact to be improved so it meets the challenges they face.

The English Compact recognises the voluntary and community sector's vital role in society as the nation’s ‘third sector’, working alongside the state and the market. Through its engagement of volunteers, the services it provides and the support it gives to individuals and groups, its contribution to community and civil life is immense, invaluable and irreplaceable.

The Compact is aimed at creating a new approach to partnership between Government and the voluntary and community sector. It provides a framework to enable relations to be carried out differently and better than before.

Government and voluntary and community organisations share many aspirations – the pursuit of inclusiveness, dedication to public life, and support for the development of healthy communities. The Compact is a starting point for developing a partnership, based on shared values and mutual respect.

The Compact embodies key considerations that emerged from a major consultation exercise to determine the sector’s views on developing the Compact. It features commitments by both sides, and includes principles such as recognising that groups are independent and have the right to campaign. The principles underpin five codes of practice - on Black and minority ethnic sector, community groups, funding, consultation, and volunteering.

The Compact and its codes apply to:

• central government departments, including government offices for the regions
• executive non-departmental public bodies, which have a relationship with the voluntary and community sector
• a range of organisations in the voluntary and community sector.

Values shape behaviour. Although Compact partners have different accountabilities, there are shared values, principles and behaviour which should govern the way they work together.

The Compact is a statement of these shared values, and upholding them will help the Government and the third sector work together successfully. They underpin, and form the basis of, the relationship. These values reaffirm the original principles of the Compact, but also renew and extend them.

Compact shared values:

• Voluntary action: This is at the heart of a free and democratic society. Volunteer time is of significant value, and the contribution of volunteers should be recognised.
• Independence: This needs to be respected whatever financial or partnership relationships exist. Third sector organisations remain entitled to campaign, within the law, to advance their aims, to manage their own affairs and to highlight issues which are important to them.
• Partnership: The Government and the third sector achieve more through cooperation and collaboration than they can achieve separately.
• Trust and respect: It is only through openness and honest communication that a strong partnership can be maintained; meaningful dialogue should be the basis for resolving difficulties.
• Accountability: The Government and the third sector are answerable to different people in different ways, but the need to act with objectivity, transparency, accountability and integrity is common to all.
• Diversity: A diversity of organisations and approaches brings innovation and choice that is of value to all.
• Equality: The Government and the third sector working together will promote equality for all people, and to tackle discrimination on the basis of race, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation or religion or belief.