Renewed Compact now published 1

Governance | Niki May Young | 15 Dec 2010

The Commission for the Compact stands by its earlier comments that the renewed Compact has been "significantly weakened" by changes made by the coalition government, after the agreement was launched last night.

The renewed Compact, which governs relationships between civil society organisations and the government, was published yesterday, weeks after its expected publication date in November, with a new slimline template following an open consultation with the sector.

However the Commission for the Compact has hinted that its criticisms of the renewed draft over the consultation period have been ignored, with a spokesperson for the organisation stating: "We approve of the brevity of the renewed Compact but our comments made on the draft remain."

The Commission, which has been culled as part of the quango review and will cease all activities by April next year, advised in October that it believed two-thirds of the renewed Compact were unfit-for-purpose, either requiring further detail or being impossible to comply with without amendment.

In its response to the draft, Navca had also warned that some of the wording based around campaigning was subjective, and the organisation was critical of the removal of principles on European funding from the Compact.

Blake - new Compact has 'teeth'

But minister for civil society Nick Hurd said at its launch last night that: "The renewed Compact is more relevant to current priorities, it's shorter, clearer and is backed by full parliamentary accountability." He added that the National Audit Office will conduct a review of the Compact across government next year. "This sends a big signal to Whitehall that the Compact must work," he said.

The renewed Compact is backed by a new accountability and transparency guide. Simon Blake (pictured), chair of Compact Voice which co-published the renewed Compact, said that the new agreement would mean these areas would be enhanced:

"The sector has wanted a Compact with teeth for a long time. This new Compact with greater accountability provides just that.

"With major changes in relationships and funding across the country, more than ever both parties need to know, and stick by, the 'rules of the game'. I call on the voluntary and community sector and government to get behind and use this Compact now as a compass for effective partnership."

>>Download the renewed Compact as a PDF<<

Directory: Commission for the Compact | National Association for Voluntary and Community Action | Office for Civil Society
Who's Who: Nick Hurd

Place a comment

Carl Allen
15 Dec 2010

When the DIY of Big Society meets the partnership of Compact, then we can look forward to the silent grinding of teeth.

[Reply]

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.