Warwickshire Compact
working together - better together

LATEST NEWS

Mapping Third Sector Report produced

A new report , Mapping third sector quality sector standards and the Compact, has found the Compact to be complementary to third sector quality standards.

Quality standards tend to be assessment tools that help organisations look at what they do, identify areas where they are doing well and not so well, and decide where improvements need to be made. Many third sector organisations choose to adopt quality standards to help them run their organisations effectively and efficiently.

The research, which was carried out by Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) on behalf of the Commission for the Compact, looked at eight quality standards and how they relate to the Compact.

The eight quality standards which were selected to be mapped against the Compact included: ACRE Good Practice Quality Standard, Hallmarks of an Effective Charity, investing in Volunteers Standard, Investors in People Standard, NAVCA Quality Award, PQASSO, Quality First and VISIBLE.

The main findings from the report show:

A high level of similarity between Compact principles and quality standards.
A similarity between the Compact and the quality standards across partnerships, volunteering, fundraising and external funding, and strategic leadership and management.
That various factors were found to influence the relationship between the Compact and the quality standards including language and structure

Download a copy of the Summary Leaflet or the full report.

The National Compact Awards 2009

Organised by the Commission for the Compact in partnership with Compact Voice and the Office of the Third Sector, the Compact Awards are awarded every year to demonstrate the Compact in action and recognise excellent partnership working at both a national and a local level.

Previously known as the Compact Commendations for Excellence, over 100 Commendations and Compact Excellence Awards have been awarded since their introduction in 2003.

This year’s judging panel includes representatives from all the key organisations associated with the Compact including: Commission for the Compact, Compact Voice, Office of the Third Sector and Local Government Association (LGA).

For more information, visit the Compact Awards website at: The Compact Awards website.

The Impact of the recession on Compact Implementation

A discussion paper looking at the potential impact of the recession on the relationship between government and the third sector has been issued by the Commission for the Compact.

Structured around eight key areas, the Think Piece reviews various changes that are expected to take place during the economic downturn, and discusses the possible effects on the relationship between the two sectors and implementation of the Compact. It identifies possible pressure points in the relationship where ensuring effective implementation of the Compact could become all the more important.

To download a pdf of the Think Piece, click here.

Review of the Compacts in the West Midlands 2009 - Final Report

This is the third review of Compact's in the West Midlands, sponsored by the West Midlands Compact Panel, Regional Action West Midlands, Government Office for the West Midlands and the Compact Commission. To read the final report click here.

A new way of working for Warwickshire Compact - from April 2009

Following on from the retirement of Charles Holmes, the Compact Officer, WCAVA will now provide support for the Compact through the four Locality Managers and Chief Executive, Paul Tolley. Their “Compact Champion” role will be to promote the implementation of the Compact’s principles and good practice guidance.

Each Locality Manager will be a member of the Stronger Communities Theme Groups of their Local Strategic Partnerships and using the very successful Rugby model the aim will be to establish a joint Annual Compact Action Plan in each District and Borough Council area and to ensure that each plan is tailored to reflect the different needs and priorities in each locality.

The Locality Managers’ contact details are:

North Warwickshire: Davina Key; davina@wcava.org.uk

Nuneaton and Bedworth: Alison Hedges, alison@wcava.org.uk

Rugby: Clare Montague, clare@wcava.org.uk

Warwick District: Pauline Urwin, purwin@wcava.org.uk

Stratford and District CVS contact details: Julia Phillips, julia@stratfordcvs.org.uk

The County Council, District and Borough Councils and NHS Warwickshire are all represented on the Third Sector Strategy Group and its aim is to establish a county wide and co-ordinated public agency approach to partnership working with the Third Sector.

Paul Tolley will seek to ensure that this group incorporates Compact principles into the way it works with the Third Sector.

Paul’s contact details are: paul@wcava.org.uk

Lesley Jackson will remain in post as the Compact Administrator, based at the Nuneaton Office. Lesley will sign post queries to the appropriate person , update and maintain the Warwickshire Compact website and communicate with Compact Champions.

Lesley’s contact details are: compact@wcava.org.uk 024 7637 1831

Dispute Resolution

If you believe that your organisation has been dealt with in a way that breaches the Compact’s principles then please ask your Locality Manager for advice.

If the alleged breach has been caused by the County Council, NHS Warwickshire or another County-wide public agency, please contact Paul Tolley for advice.

REPORT ON THE DEBATE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE COMPACT

For the results of the recent debate on the future of the Compact, please click here to go the report on the Commission for the Compact website.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH STANDARD CONTRACTS FOR COMMUNITY AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Find out about the new Department of Health Standard Contracts for Community and Mental Health Services which came into effect from 1 April 2009 for all new contracts with NHS Warwickshire.

Click here to find out more. Essential reading if you have, or are planning to have, a new contract with the PCT after 1 April 2009.

Existing Grants may be able to be continued but some may need to be changed in to contracts when they are due to be reviewed.

PCTs will be expected to use the National Audit Decision Making Tool to determine which funding route to follow.

MANAGING REALITY - A REPORT ON THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR'S EXPERIENCE OF WORKING WITH WARWICKSHIRE'S PUBLIC AGENCIES COMMISSIONING AND PROCUREMENT SERVICES

This report should be of interest to all Third Sector Providers of Health and Social Care and other contracted services with the Public Agencies in Warwickshire.

This report demonstrates that there is much room for improvement in the way services are commissioned and procured from Third Sector Providers in the County.

Good practice guidance issued by various Government Departments and the Compact is included to enable staff in both the Public and Third Sector to better understand what is required and what needs to be implemented in these complex processes.

The report also makes a number of recommendations not only in respect of the Public Agencies but also for Third Sector organsations.

To download a copy of the report please click here.

The Improvement and Development Agency (I&DEA) and the Cabinet Office have recently said that there are eight principles of good commissioning. These are:

• Understanding the needs of users and other communities by ensuring that, alongside other consultees, you engage with the third sector organisations, as advocates, to access their specialist knowledge

• Consulting potential provider organisations, including those from the third sector and local experts, well in advance of commissioning new services, working with them to set priority outcomes for that service

• Putting outcomes for users at the heart of the strategic planning process;

• Mapping the fullest practical range of providers with a view to understanding the contribution they could make to delivering those outcomes

• Considering investing in the capacity of the provider base, particularly those working with hard-to-reach groups

• Ensuring contracting processes are transparent and fair, facilitating the involvement of the broadest range of suppliers, including considering sub-contracting and consortia building, where appropriate;

• Ensuring long-term contracts and risk sharing, wherever appropriate, as ways of achieving efficiency and effectiveness; and

• Seeking feedback from service users, communities and providers in order to review the effectiveness of the commissioning process in meeting local needs.

We need to make sure all commissioners embed these principles into the way they work and then that they then apply them each and every time they are reviewing an existing service or proposing a new one.

When you read the report you will understand why these principles are needed.

But commissioning is only half of the picture. The next task is to clearly set out the principles of good procurement. The task over the next few months is to see how we can all work together to agree what constitutes the principles of good procurement.

If you have ideas that can be condensed into similar short statements please email them to compact@wcava.org.uk

Compact Commission Newsletter

Please click here for the latest edition of Insight, the quarterly newsletter from the Commision for the Compact.

Warwickshire Compact signatory organisations

There are now 57 signatories to the Warwickshire Compact

Find them in the Signatory Register.

Look in the Library - Information and Reports Section - to find out how to become a Signatory Organisation.

National Context and Local Issues

The first “national” Compact between the Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector was established in 1998.

A Compact Secretariat, based at the offices of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ Head Office in London was set up and overseen by the Compact Working Group. The Secretariat’s work is funded through the Home Office Active Communities Unit.

Since then five national Codes of Good Practice have been produced and all Government departments are expected to implement this guidance in their dealings with the voluntary and community sector.

The Government expects there to be a Local Compact in every area and advises that all public agencies, such as Borough, District and County Councils, Primary Care Trusts, Learning and Skills Councils and the Police etc, as well as voluntary and community organisations should all be signatories.

With the Government’s greater emphasis in its modernisation agenda on public sector organisations being much more focused on seeking the views of their service users and the public at large when planning their services, there has never been a greater need for the Compact’s good practice guidance than there is now. It is to hoped that the newly formed organisations, when established, will see the relevance of the Warwickshire Compact to their work and that they will make the effort to become signatories and to implement the good practice guidance of the five codes.

The Compact is all about organisations in both sectors recognising the need to put into action the good practice Compact ways of working that are necessary to strengthen and improve their relationships with their partner organisations for the benefit of local people.

The voluntary and community sector in Warwickshire can, with appropriate support and better partnership working, not only help the public agencies working in the County to achieve their strategic objectives, but also help to ensure that local people with specific needs get more help.

Warwickshire Compact working together - better together