Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has said organisations that feel there are ‘serious grounds for complaint’ in how the Compact is working should take it up directly with him.
Hurd (pictured) was speaking at a meeting of the All Party Prliamentary Group (APPG) on Civil Society and Volunteering held by the NCVO, which looked at the Compact.
The APPG’s chair Alun Michael MP told Hurd that there had been “pretty awful examples” of serious breaches of the Compact at the Department for Health and the Department of Justice.
“I know how bloody awful it’s been,” he said. “There are instances when some don’t get the difference between grants and procuring services, which is quite basic. Also, there are instances of not delivering on promises.”
In response, Hurd said he hoped the parties could talk to try and resolve issues. But, he added that the Office for Civil Society existed to be a champion of the Compact, and said that serious grounds for complaint should be directed to him, and he would take it up.
Hurd also said that the Compact would become a cross-cutting theme for government departments, meaning they would have to refer to its implementation in their business plans.
David Clarke, a director of the National Audit Office (NAO), also spoke at the event about the NAO’s recent report on the central government implementation of the national Compact. The report found that there was little evidence its implementation was fundamentally flawed, but did identify challenges.
Clarke said that there was confusion around the OCS’s role with regards to the Compact, that government departments which did not meet recommended timescales for consultation with the sector were not adequately explaining why, and that Compact champions within departments were not visible enough.
He said the NAO would check if departments were making changes in response to its recommendations to improve the working of the Compact.
Simon Blake, chair of Compact Voice, also attended and said there needed to be clear visible leadership of the Compact in all government departments.
