The Compact

What is the Compact?

In 1998 the Government published a National Compact which endorsed the value of partnership working with the voluntary, faith and community sectors. Since this time authorities have been encouraged to work with groups in putting together an agreement which provides improved methods for working together.

At the heart of the London Borough of Hackney’s value base is recognition that voluntary, faith and community groups make an invaluable contribution to society and that local statutory and public agencies should play a positive role in supporting their work.  As such the London Borough of Hackney is committed to developing a local Compact which will represent an agreement between the Council the voluntary, faith and community Sectors in Hackney.

The local Compact will symbolize a collective commitment on the part of all Hackney Council elected members to establishing a new way of working between the various public bodies, the voluntary, faith and community sectors and to monitoring the relationship through an annual review and appraisal of the Compact.

So what does the Compact involve?

The National Compact is a set of good practice guidelines on how statutory and public sector agencies should work with voluntary, faith & community groups.  The five Good Practice Codes which inform the Compact can be downloaded on the right hand side of this page.

In the Compact, the government undertakes to:

• Support the sustainability of the voluntary, faith and community sectors
• Work towards greater transparency and consistency in funding arrangements
• Consult with the sectors on issues that are likely to affect it.
• Promote effective synergy with voluntary, faith and community groups

What we need from voluntary, faith & community groups are:

• Views on how the Compact can be made most effective
• An agreement to the priorities for which guidelines should be worked on first
• Organisations to serve on the Compact Working Group to produce guidelines

The London Borough of Hackney will be co-ordinating an all inclusive consultation process about the Compact which is due to commence in October 2004.

For further information regarding the Compact and if you wish to be involved in the consultation process please email the Compact Manager or telephone 0208-356-7509.

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Page updated: 7 Nov 2008