New toolkit will help councils assess Compact savings

18 Aug 2010 News

The Commission for the Compact is poised to launch a toolkit that will demonstrate to local authorities how much money they can save by using the Compact in their dealings with voluntary sector groups.

The Commission for the Compact is poised to launch a toolkit that will demonstrate to local authorities how much money they can save by using the Compact in their dealings with voluntary sector groups.

Commission chief executive Richard Corden said there seemed to be a common misconception among local councils that adhering to the Compact will add expense. So a few months ago the Commission hired consultants Grant Thornton to research how applying the Compact in their relationships with the voluntary sector could help councils achieve social and economic benefits, and then to design some tools to help them measure the potential efficiencies and performance improvements.

Policy adviser Richard Williams said: “We think there is a need, in the current climate, to try and sell the Compact in a different way.  Money talks so we think we can achieve greater currency by highlighting the efficiencies that can be made.”

The tools available will be partly a self-assessment product, to help councils measure how the Compact can help across 12 broad service areas.  There will also be some case studies to illustrate the benefits achieved by others.

The toolkit will be housed within a dedicated area of the Commission’s website from early September, and will comprise a simple Excel spreadsheet onto which local authorities can load their own information.  The Commission plans to write to the chief executive of every local authority to alert them to the toolkit.

The Commission is also inviting voluntary sector agencies to share with it examples of good and bad practice by funders as they make spending cuts.