Warwickshire Compact

'Left to right - Paul Tolley - WCAVA Chief Executive, Sir Bert Massie - Commissioner for the Compact, Kam Kaur - Mayor if Rugby, Andrew Gabbitas - Deputy Chief Executive Rugby Borough Council

A Celebration of Partnership Working' was the theme for this year's Compact event, which took place at Benn Hall, Rugby on Friday 6th November 2009.  We were delighted that Sir Bert Massie CBE, the Commissioner for the Compact, agreed to be our guest speaker.  This was our third annual Compact celebration held in Rugby and partnership work in Rugby just goes from strength to strength.

The event included a market stall area, to provide local Voluntary and Community Sector organisations the opportunity to promote their work.

Over 60 groups and organisations became stall holders for the day.  I introduced Sir Bert Massie to the range of groups, organisations and stallholders present and he was truly amazed that through the use of a local Compact Action Plan and hard work, that we had managed to make Compact relevant to local groups.  We have been strongly encouraged to apply for the Compact Awards next year and will be working closely with Solihull, who won a national award this year.

Sir Bert Massie also updated those present on the national 'refresh' of the Compact.  The new national guidance is due for publication in December.  As soon as this is published, we will be establishing a Compact Working Group to create a library of Warwickshire factsheets that are accessible to the entire sector and our statutory partners.  The factsheets will explain how we are implementing the new guidance within Warwickshire.
A key part of the success we have seen in Rugby, has been the use of the Compact Action Plan and these are now bring created or updated in every other district. - Paul Tolley, Chief Executive, WCAVA

Nuneaton and Bedworth Supporting Communities Forum

In Nuneaton and Bedworth, we ran our quarterly Supporting Communities Forum on the 29th October.  The Forum was attended by over 30 members of voluntary and community sector organisations.  Compact was put on the agenda as it was felt there had been little engagement or understanding of it previously.  Those in attendance were very receptive to the idea of improving working relationships between the sector and local public agencies, and all engaged with an exercise to draft realistic actions that could be undertaken within the next 12 months.

The draft document will now be taken to our public sector partners to discuss how the actions can be achieved and with whom the responsibilities will lie. - Alison Hedges, Locality Manager for the WCAVA Nuneaton and Bedworth Office

Warwick District 'open house' sessions

During Compact week, the resource room was stocked with Compact publications, and I was available during advertised sessions.

One of the sessions involved a meeting with the Warwick District Council Compact Champion, at which the draft action plan was discussed.  Also discussed were the potential breaches of Compact that sector members had raised with me.  Through discussion about these concerns, we identified a need to inform and train officers from the local authority in the scope of the Compact and an appreciation of the local Voluntary and Community Sector.  We decided that the action plan would reflect this priority at this stage.

A potential new member from the sector had also come to me to discuss signing up to the Compact, and having sent out all of the relevant paperwork, I will be meeting the organisation next week, at which point I hope to announce the name of this new signatory.  The Sustainable Community Strategy was also be published this week, in which it states 'Statutory Partners to develop a co-ordinated approach to supporting the voluntary and community sector via the Warwick Partnership and in accordance with Compact'.

Finally, the Partnership has also allocated some resources to improving website access to their business opportunities, which will greatly increase the opportunity for the sector to bid for local tenders. - Pauline Urwin, Locality Manager for the WCAVA Warwick District

Stratford Compact Workshop

Voluntary Action Stratford on Avon District (VASA) organised a workshop for councillors, county and district council officers and representatives from local voluntary and community groups to discuss ways to strengthen Compact working in the Stratford district.

Voluntary and Community sector attendees identified ongoing funding and other support as key issues and VASA, WCC and Stratford District Council undertook to consider their roles in providing these.  The need to demonstrate to smaller voluntary and community groups how they fit into the Compact was also highlighted.

There was particular emphasis on how the Third Sector could support the increasing focus by the two councils on locality working - crucial in a large rural district like Stratford - with WCC and Stratford District Council representatives stressing they wanted stronger engagement with voluntary and community groups to identify and address localities' needs.

One proposal put forward was to develop voluntary and community sector networks on a locality basis, which would also dovetail with the two authorities' encouragement for more collaborative working between voluntary and community sector organisations.

The event was judged a success and VASA and Stratford District Council will meet early in 2010 to consider what actions are needed to deliver on the outcomes. - Trevor Russel, Marketing and Communications Manager, Voluntary Action Stratford on Avon District