Compact Week planning is in full swing across the country, and we want you to tell us about your plans for Compact Week. Remember, Compact Voice offers a speaker service, and we're inviting you to let us know before 30 September if you'd like us to attend your event. Please note we do hope to be able to attend all events during this period, but cannot guarantee this - we'll let you know either way as early as possible.

We're also currently recruiting for the Compact Voice Board - we rely on a broad cross-section of constituent organisations to ensure we remain representative of the voluntary sector. Details and how to apply are on our website now, with applications closing on 1 October.

Finally there has been some interesting commentary on the role of the sector recently; Geoff Mulgan from the Young Foundation believes the state does have a role to build society; while NFP Synergy research reveals that there has been no slump in coalition support for the sector as key to delivering front-line services in difficult times.

By David Ainsworth, Third Sector Online, 15 July 2010

Minister for Civil Society says his colleague Francis Maude has written to other ministers stressing this point.

Francis Maude, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, has written to ministerial colleagues asking them to consider the Compact when making cuts, according to Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society.

Speaking at Cabinet Office questions in the House of Commons, Hurd said the government was "fully committed to the Compact", the agreement that sets out how public and voluntary sector organisations should treat each other.

"That is why my right honourable friend has written to ministers with responsibility for the big society agenda to ask them to consider the Compact as decisions on in-year budgetary savings and efficiencies are taken," he said.

He also told MPs that the Compact would be on the agenda when a group of ministers with responsibility for the big society met for the first time next week.

Hurd also said the Cabinet Office was interested in reforming commissioning to make it easier for voluntary sector organisations to compete for public sector contacts.

Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin told the Commons that longer term funding for the sector was "enormously important".
"We are moving away from the micro-management of processes in contracts and towards a very exciting new world of payment by results, so that voluntary organisations can use their talents and initiative to achieve real results," he said.

Click here to find out more.

Nominations close on Wednesday 11 August 2010.

To find out more click here.

Dugald, Tom, Oli, Nicole and Paul - Compact Voice

We've been pleased recently that a number of government ministers have publicly pledged their support for the application of Compact principles within their own departments, and we hope this message will continue to reach local authorities, many of whom have been tasked with finding further budget savings. As we've stated previously, Compact can be a valuable tool in achieving this savings in a way which gives the best opportunity for local groups to continue to be viable, gets the best value for money and protects front-line services. If you're interested, please read my blog post for more.

We're also maintaining a cuts section on our site, where we provide some guidance not only to voluntary groups, but also to public sector bodies, who we realise are under pressure to maintain service levels with decreasing budgets.

Finally, we've had many people ask us at our regional events if now is the time to refresh their Local Compact. We believe that this is up to individual areas and partners, but we'd encourage you to at least read the refreshed Compact and use it as a starting point for discussion(s) about how well your own one is meeting your needs; and if it is - why not share this with others either here or through Compact Voice?

To view the September edition of Compact Voice click here.

For those of you not taking advantage of school holidays, we thought we'd send a quick briefing on Compact news. Firstly, our partners at the Commission for the Compact have released a briefing note on the economic and social benefits of applying Compact principles - these are early findings ahead of the full report due at the end of summer 2010.

We also encourage you to read more about how Merton partners have handled cuts to the area together - there are some valuable lessons for other parts of the country where cuts may still be coming.

We're happy to announce that applications for our Priority Areas Programme - where we provide tailored help and advice to get your Local Compact working harder for you, is now open. Be one of the first to apply for this free service, or find out more.

Finally, the Compact Awards are on again in 2010 - if you feel your area has performed strongly this year, why not apply?

To view the June 2010 edition of Compact Voice News click here.

This is a special bulletin following concerns people have raised at our regional events, and through our helpline about a period of substantial cuts to local funding.

For more information click here.

To view the May 2010 edtion of E-Compact News please click here

Items of interest include:

New Ministers and Office for Civil Society

Compact case studies

Total Place and the Compact

Compact Voice regional implementation event

Too often the Compact is seen as just a set of principles and commitments; something a local authority draws up with the voluntary sector, pays lip service to and name-checks every now and then, but doesn't seem to make any real difference. While the drawing up of a local Compact and putting in place a framework such as a Compact Implementation Group are good starting points what really matters is trying to imbed a Compact way of working. This means agreeing on the principles and then building on this by working together effectively from the beginning and puttings things right when they go wrong.

Click here to read the full briefing.

By John Plummer, Third Sector Online, 19 May 2010

But Prime Minister says nothing about statutory powers for Commission for the Compact

David Cameron has pledged to "refresh and renew" the Compact, but did not give any indication that the government would give the Commission for the Compact statutory powers.

Speaking at the launch of the big society agenda on Tuesday, Cameron said the Compact - the public and voluntary sector fair play agreement created by Labour in 1998 - had been "honoured more in the breach than the observance".

He said he wanted to make sure it "really means something", adding: "One of the early bits of work, I think, is to refresh and renew that Compact."

A refreshed version of the Compact was published last year after a lengthy consultation process. Asked whether Cameron's comments meant there would be another consultation on the future of the Compact, a Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: "Full details on each policy will be published in due course."

Sir Bert Massie, Commissioner for the Compact, said: "Although the Compact was refreshed last year, the new agenda relating to the big society might mean that we need to examine how the Compact relates to the private sector and whether further changes are needed."

After running a consultation last year, Labour agreed to support moves to give the commission statutory powers to investigate Compact breaches and submit an annual report to Parliament. But no legislation was passed before the election and neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats pledged to give the commission statutory powers in their manifestos. "I hope it will prove possible to take these initiatives forward," said Massie.

Oliver Reichardt, head of the Compact team at Compact Voice, which represents the voluntary sector on the Compact, said: "It's great that the Prime Minister recognises the vital role of the Compact in building better relationships between public bodies and civil society. With many groups worried about the impact of spending cuts, it is more important than ever that we have a fully implemented Compact."

Dan Fluskey - Compact Advocacy, blogs on communication between partners.

Hi everyone,
We hope you are enjoying the long spring thaw, and getting excited about our series of regional Compact implementation events - "Building better communities through stronger partnerships". First cab off the rank is Birmingham for the West Midlands region, and the event is on Wed 19th May. Some places are still available, or you can find the event in your region if you're too far from Birmingham.

Our sister organisation the Compact Advocacy Programme is also working on more advice for voluntary organisations about how to work better with local public body partners. You can read the latest blog post from Daniel, where he talks about how timely communication can help you win or maintain contracts, on our main website.

Effective dispute resolution tactics.

Despite best intentions, disputes arise and sometimes threaten important partnerships.

Click here and follow the top tips on how to best resolve disputes.

We thought we'd drop you a quick line to let you know we have two new briefings for voluntary groups and other Local Compact partners in our resources section. These are Make procurement work for you — by using your Compact and Righting Public Law Wrongs: Challenge Unfairness, part of our growing series of Compact Voice briefings to help you get the most out of your Compact. If there's any other topics you'd like us to cover please let us know or discuss it on the website.

If you haven't visited our new-look website, please do so - and let us know if you have any comments. And finally, with the election looming, a quck reminder to check if your local prospective parliamentary candidate has pledged their support for the voluntary sector and the compact, on our election website.

Visit Compact Voice Network here.

To view the latest edition of Compact voice click on the link below

By Andy Ricketts, Third Sector Online, 14 April 2010

Responses of potential MPs to questions about the Compact are included on a public website

Compact Voice has contacted more than 1,700 parliamentary candidates in an attempt to gauge their views on the Compact.
The organisation, which represents the voluntary sector's side of the agreement, has written to the candidates in the 533 constituencies in England and is uploading their reponses to a publicly accessible website.

Compact Voice has asked candidates what efforts they would make to work with local charities and voluntary organisations in their constituencies if they were elected and whether they would champion the Compact, the agreement that sets out how public and voluntary sector organisations should treat each other.

People are being encouraged by Compact Voice to contact candidates who have not responded to remind them to take part.
A spokesman for the organisation said one of the aims of the exercise was to raise the profile of the Compact.
"It is about putting partnership working onto the agenda and getting people who might be elected to commit themselves to the Compact and the principles of partnership working," he added.

Angela Smith, the Minister for the Third Sector and Labour parliamentary candidate for South Basildon and East Thurrock, was among the first batch of respondents. Asked if she would champion the Compact at local level, she says: "We still need to work to ensure that local authorities recognise that the Compact is of value to them as well as to the sector."

2010 General Election - lets get our sector to the top of their agenda.

Click here to find out how you can make this happen.

Source:John Plummer, Third Sector Online, 25 March 2010

Membership body condemns decision to cut spending by 50 per cent without consultation.

Compact Voice has said it is "very disturbed" about Westminster City Council's alleged breach of the Compact and insisted charities should be consulted about funding cuts.

Voluntary Action Westminster reported the Conservative council to the NCVO's compact advocacy programme this month for reducing its 2010/11 budget by almost 50 per cent without adequate consultation or notice.

Compact Voice, which represents the voluntary sector on Compact issues, said in a statement: "It appears that affected voluntary groups were not consulted about the impact of the cuts and will also have a reduced role in future decision-making.
"This action is not only a breach of the local Compact but also of their legitimate expectation to be consulted, and such a hit-and-miss approach is unlikely to lead to the best outcomes for the area."

Councillor Ed Argar, Westminster's cabinet member for adult and community services, said in a statement that the council had received 200 applications for voluntary sector funding totalling almost three times the available budget.

"With this level of competition and high calibre of applications, we understand that some organisations will be disappointed by this latest funding allocation," he said.
"Despite increasing financial pressures in the midst of this recession, we remain committed to working with the voluntary sector to deliver services in Westminster."

Argar said the council would be conducting a review that would "address the operation of the Compact in light of the current tough economic climate".