Thurrock Compact has won the Compact Commissioner’s award for a partnership that has demonstrated outstanding progress over the last 12 months.

The award was presented to Thurrock CVS on behalf of the partnership, which includes Thurrock Council who has ringfenced £600,000 of funding to the voluntary sector until 2011.  

Commissioner for the Compact Sir Bert Massie (pictured), who presented the Thurrock CVS with the award last night, said it represented the best of the Compact and praised it for deciding to make no cuts to the voluntary sector in the years 2010/11.

Last night's Compact Awards are the last to be held by the Commission for the Compact before it dissolves next year. The awards celebrate partnership working across local and national government and the voluntary sector.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) won the national partnership working award for its Merlin Standard, a code of conduct for contractors and subcontractors delivering the programme on behalf of the government. If an organisation does not follow the code it risks seeing its contract revoked.

Sir Bert Massie said the DWP was the only government department that deserved the award: “Only one government department did enough. The DWP’s Merlin Standard Project on its welfare-to-work programme recognised positive partnership working in supply chains. Compact principles were robustly embedded so the voluntary sector is treated fairly. The have done well and deserve the award.”

Other award winners included the Merton Compact, which won local Compact of the year, Rutland Joint Action Group who won the Compact award for local partnership working and South West Regional Compact Partners who won for its regional partnership working.

Cath Cook from Voluntary Action Oldham won Compact Champion of the Year.