Implementation

The LGA Conference: a voluntary sector perspective

This time last week, I was at the final day of the LGA Conference in Manchester, and I feel like I learnt so much from it that I should take the time now to share some of my thoughts with you.

I was lucky enough to attend all three days of the conference, and I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be disorganized like some conferences I’ve been to, would it be confusing and would it be relevant? Fortunately the conference was well organized, not at all confusing and very relevant.

Gloucestershire: Promoting the Compact to Parish and Town Councils

Gloucestershire Association for Voluntary and Community Action (GAVCA), Gloucestershire Association of Parish and Town Councils (GAPTC) and Compact Voice worked together to promote the Compact to Parish and Town Councillors in Gloucestershire.

A series of evening workshops for local Councillors encouraged them to work closely with Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations for the benefit of local people.

Herefordshire: A three sector Compact

Herefordshire renewed its local Compact in 2012 and called it "Working Well Together". In recognition of the changing landscape in service delivery, the Herefordshire Compact makes it explicit that the Compact is about three sectors – including the private sector – working well together.

West Midlands Compact Panel: Promoting good practice locally

The West Midlands Compact Panel has enabled the sharing of good practice about the Compact and Compact principles and helped to strengthen partnership working across the West Midlands. It is attended by both public sector and VCS representatives who have an open and honest dialogue about how best to deal with current issues and challenges.

A reminder won't go astray

Yesterday, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion about working with the coalition government, which had been organised by the Equality and Diversity Forum, one of Compact Voice’s board organisations. I spoke alongside representatives from Stonewall and End Violence Against Women, and we all offered different perspectives about working with the government.

Redbridge: Making the spirit of the Compact leap from the pages

The Redbridge Compact 2011-2014 does far more than list shared principles.

It sells the Compact based on what it can do for partners and describes what good Compact working looks like in a way that makes sense in the real world.

Compact Implementation Guide: For Black and Minority Ethnic Voluntary Organisations

This guide will help organisations in the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) voluntary and community sector (including social enterprises), and public bodies work together more effectively by using the principles of the Compact.

Wiltshire: Integrating the Compact into local strategy

By aligning their Compact with the Wiltshire Community Plan, the Wiltshire Compact Board has helped to raise its profile.

Ensuring Meaningful Engagement when Consulting

Ensuring Meaningful Engagement when Consulting provides a benchmark of the minimum expected in order for engagement on consultations to be considered meaningful, in particular when the public body is unavoidably restricted to less than a twelve week consultation period. If this happens a clear explanation as to why this is needed should also be provided.

So how is Government doing on the Compact?

Recently, the National Audit Office published their long awaited report on how central government is implementing the Compact. It’s certainly interesting reading - containing some things we had expected, as well as some surprises - and it sends a clear message both to the government and the sector that more needs to be done to ensure stronger implementation of the Compact.