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Aug 13
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Aug 24
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Download this bulletin as a .pdf here
NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE COMPACT – AUTUMN BULLETIN 2010
COMPACT AND THE BIG SOCIETY
With the Big Society en ever-present term in the media and a cornerstone of the coalition government’s policies, we thought it would be useful to look at early indications of what the ‘Big Society’ is, where these ideas have come from and importantly what this means for the local Compact in North East Lincolnshire.
What is The Big Society?
The Big Society is a Government agenda that seeks to shift power from politicians to people. It was the subject of the first major policy announcement of the new coalition government.
The main themes are:
- Giving more power to communities and local government
- Encouraging a greater role in public services for Voluntary and Community Organisations and other ‘civil society’ organisations
- Supporting the voluntary and community sector
Although only a short outline of the Big Society agenda has been published so far, more detailed proposals are expected to be announced in the coming weeks and months.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) have set up an information page and discussion thread about the challenges and opportunities the Big Society presents.
It is clear that Big Society aims to transform public services. One of its key aims is to give local people and not-for-profit organisations the opportunity to take over the running of public services – and to give more control to citizens over what happens in their area. These ideas are based in part on the system of community organization from the United States. It also takes ideas from Sweden and Canada.
How is it shaping up in practice?
For those of us who have worked in the public or voluntary and community sectors in recent years, the idea of engaging and developing groups and capacity with a view to taking on a greater service delivery role is nothing new. Neither is giving local people a say in how they are governed – the neighbourhood agenda has been looking to achieve this for some time. However, what does seem to be true is the extent to which the Big Society is looking to change the way the public, voluntary and community, social enterprise and private sector work together in our communities.
Decentralisation Minister, Greg Clark’s recent speech on enabling the Big Society agenda to happen entitled Growing the Big Society offers a glimpse of the government’s thinking.
He spoke of ‘undiluted altruism – as delivered by charities, social enterprises, volunteers’ as ‘the purest expression of the Big Society’, Clark said the Big Society vision will be supported from government by three key committments and mechanisms. These are ‘decentralisation, transparancy…and social finance’. Clark described these as collectively being ‘the redistribution of knowledge’ and the ‘redistribution of money and other assets’.
Big Society and The Compact
So, whilst the precise details of government policy relating to Big Society are yet to be released, there is enough information to be clear that partnership and working across the sectors will remain a key consideration.
It’s also possible that the private sector will be encouraged to become more involved and that co-operatives could be set up to run frontline services. The relationships between partners will become more crucial through this period of change, ensuring a continuing need for Compact and its codes of practice. Particularly those relating to financial relationships.
It is likely that the Compact locally will be refreshed in the near future in order to reflect the changes that the Big Society will make, however, in its commitment to working better together to achieve greater impact for communities, its principles and undertakings remain entirely in keeping with the goals of the Big Society.
Big Society Event – 3 September 2010
The Post Election Landscape and the Voluntary and Community Sector briefing event takes a look at public spending cuts, ‘Big Society’, localism, payment by results, changes to regional governance and other coalition policy priorities that the third sector needs to be aware of and respond to.
This briefing, organised by Yorkshire & the Humber Forum, aims to bring participants up to date with the latest developments and provide a forum for debating what they might mean for the voluntary and community sector across Northern Lincolnshire.
Taking place on Friday September 3 from 1330 to 1530 at IMMAGE Studios, Immingham, the event costs £10 and places can be reserved by emailing vicky@vanel.org.uk or calling VANEL on 01472 231123
For further information on the Big Society from NCVO log onto: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/policy-campaigns-research/-big-society/big-society
For an easily digestible view of the Big Society from the Urban Forum log onto: www.urbanforum.org.uk/briefings/big-society-bite-sized
New Start Editorial Director and co-organiser of Big Society in the North group, Julian Dobson’s, blog – Living with Rats http://livingwithrats.blogspot.com/2010/06/time-hidden-backbone-of-big-society.html
COMPACT CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEETINGS
Published at the end of August, the new code of conduct for meetings has been endorsed
by the Compact Steering Group as a support mechanism. Its aim is to set out clear
guidelines for Compact members setting up and/or attending meetings.
Most people agree that in most cases, the effectiveness of meetings is maximised if everyone involved is committed to some simple ground rules before and during the meeting. It is important that decisions taken are informed by having appropriate, accurate information and debate, and the wider community must be able to feel that decisions, particularly those affecting the spending of public funds, are fair and have not been influenced by the vested interests of those making the decisions or based on misinformation. The code makes it clear that declarations of interest should be stated at the outset of meetings.
The code of conduct for meetings supports the other Compact codes of good practice in North East Lincolnshire as well as the Guidelines for Resolving Disagreements.
The Compact Code of Conduct for meetings is available from VANEL or online at:
COMPACT AND MEDIATION IN NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE
- Have you had need of mediation in your workplace in the last six months?
- Does your day to day job require mediation skills?
- Would you like to be able to access mediation services, or be trained in mediation?
If the answer to any or all of these questions is YES, then we’d like to hear from you. In partnership with North East Lincolnshire Council, we’re looking to assess the need for a mediation service in North East Lincolnshire and your views would be welcome.
In the fist instance contact VANEL on 01472 231123 or email Nick Triplow, Compact Facilitator at: compact@vanel.org.uk
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Aug 24
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Jun 07
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Download this bulletin as a .pdf here.
NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE COMPACT – SUMMER BULLETIN 2010
North East Lincolnshire Compact Re-fresh On Ice
North East Lincolnshire’s Compact Steering Group has agreed that the proposed Compact consultation – reported in the spring bulletin – be deferred. This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement of plans to “refresh and renew” the national Compact in his ‘Big Society’ speech on May 18 (see National Compact News below for more details).
A draft of the refreshed local Compact had already been circulated to Steering Group members for comment, but as there are likely to be significant changes to the national Compact, with a possible move to include the private sector in Compact commitments, it was agreed to reschedule the consultation until more details about the new Government’s plans are available.
The existing Compact and codes of practice remain in place and copies are available either from VANEL offices or as downloads from: www.thrivepages.org.uk/compact
Humber Innovation Partnership Project – COMPACT in the Humber
Humber Innovation Partnership has commissioned a project, via FoLDA (Federation of Local Development Agencies) to assess the levels of Compact engagement and participation across the Humber region. VANEL is leading the south bank element of the work in partnership with North Bank Forum on the north bank. The research will involve the Compact Steering Group and Compact members.
The project will assess:
- Levels of Compact awareness within the public and voluntary and community sectors
- Mechanisms for resolving Compact disputes
- The impact of Compact principles and undertakings on the relationship between the two sectors
- The role of Compact Champions
- Facilitation of Compact Steering Groups
A regional Compact Challenge event has been agreed for 19 July 2010 at the Ropewalk, Barton with a launch event scheduled for 3 November 2010 (during Compact week) also at the Ropewalk, Barton.
For further information please contact Nick Triplow, VANEL Compact Facilitator at compact@vanel.org.uk or on 01472 231123.
NATIONAL COMPACT NEWS
PRIME MINISTER SEES COMPACT AS PART OF ‘BIG SOCIETY’
In his ‘Big Society’ launch speech on Tuesday 18 May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron gave his support to the Compact.
He pledged that government would ensure that the Compact “really means something” and indicated plans to “refresh and renew” the agreement. However, he did not give any indication that the government would give the Commission for the Compact statutory powers.
A refreshed version of the Compact was published last year after a lengthy consultation process. Asked whether David 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 CBE, Commissioner for the Compact, welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to the Compact, saying:
“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. As the Compact remains a voluntary agreement enforcement is problematic. One of the outcomes of the Compact Debate last year was that the Commission for the Compact should be given statutory powers of enquiry into apparent breaches of the Compact and that it should submit an annual report to Parliament. I hope it will prove possible to take these initiatives forward.”
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.”
For further information about the government’s new ‘Big Society Programme’ contact: http://news.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
COMPACT IN ACTION – CASE STUDIES SHOW GOOD PRACTICE
A series of case studies showing the Compact partnership working agreement in use within public sector organisations has been published on the Compact website.
The case studies have been developed following the Commission for the Compact’s work with a number of public sector organisations, from government departments and agencies to local public bodies, offering advice and support on using the Compact.
The studies provide ideas and models of good practice that public sector organisations, looking to use the Compact more effectively, can learn from. Alongside them, there are practical documents such as project plans, templates and presentations used by the organisations during their work to implement the Compact.
Ruth Fennemore, Policy Adviser at the Commission for the Compact, who is leading on this project, said:
“The case studies tell the story of practical things that different public sector organisations have done to improve their use of the Compact. The organisations we have worked with have welcomed the external advice and support. We hope that through sharing their case studies, other areas will gain valuable ideas for strengthening their own partnerships with the voluntary sector.”
“Good partnership working can make a big contribution at a time of shrinking budgets to the ability of public bodies to continue providing high quality services and facilities for local people.”
To download the case studies and accompanying documents, please visit:
www.thecompact.org.uk/casestudies
Nick Triplow
compact@vanel.org.uk
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Jun 07
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David Cameron has pledged to ‘refresh and renew’ the Compact.
Read an article about this here.
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May 25
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The May edition of the Empowering the Voluntary Sector newsletter contains a number of Compact related articles, including two detailing where the Compact has been used to resolve disputes.
Download the .pdf newsletter here (1.5Mb)
More information from their website.
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May 24
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Nick Triplow has just issued an update on progress on the Compact locally. Download the document here.
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May 12
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This simple .pdf is entitled “Fighting the Good Fight: Effective Dispute Resolution Tactics” and is produced by the Compact Advocacy group.
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Dec 17
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The national Compact has been reviewed, refreshed and republished (December 2009).
Read the article here and download the Compact document in pdf format here. Download an Introduction to the Compact here.
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Nov 05
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The North and North East Lincolnshire Joint Compact has been awarded a highly commended certificate at this year’s Compact Awards for displaying commitment to cross sector collaboration across geographical boundaries.
The award was presented by Simon Blake, Chair of Compact Voice, at a ceremony at the Dali Universe in London on Tuesday 3 November 2009 attended by 100 guests and Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner for the Compact. Celebrating excellent partnership working, the Compact Awards showcase the Compact, the long-standing agreement that sets out shared commitments and guidelines for partnership working between government and the third sector at a local, regional and national level.
Paula Grant from Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire said:
“This is a great success story for all our local partners demonstrating the real value of partnership working in practice. We are keen to continue this way of working and look forward to even greater levels of achievement next year. “
Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner for the Compact, said:
“I would like to congratulate the North and North East Joint Compact for being awarded a highly commended certificate. All our winners and finalists show that Compact principles improve the quality of partnership working, focusing on delivering the best services and providing maximum benefit, as well as promoting the building of long-term, sustainable relationships built on trust and commitment.”
Organised by the Commission for the Compact in partnership with Compact Voice and the Office of the Third Sector, the five award categories include Local Compact of the Year, Compact Champion of the Year, the Compact Award for Innovation, National Excellence Award, and a Commissioner’s Award, given in recognition of exceptional achievement. The Local Compact of the Year Award is awarded for excellent joint Compact working at a local level.
For more information about the Compact Awards, please visit: www.compactawards.org.uk
Download this press release in full: Press release
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Nov 05
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The Concise Compact Guide is now available. This sets out the basic principles and highlights some of the responsibilities and benefits for all those involved in public and third sector partnership working.
Hard copies are available now from Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire (contact Peter Hewson at VANEL on 01472 231123).
Or the guide can be downloaded in .pdf form here.
download the guide here
