Briefings

This section highlights the latest local or national news that will be of interest to all voluntary and community groups, this may include issues such as the development of the local Compact, or the Home Office consultation on funding for infrastructure organisations.

Compact

What is a compact?
The Gateshead Compact

The need for a new Compact

The purpose of the Compact

The Gateshead Compact 2010-2013

What is a compact?
A Compact is an agreement between public sector agencies and the voluntary

and community sector (VCS) to work together to agreed standards and

shared objectives.

It formalises a set of shared commitments which recognise the value and role of

the voluntary and community sector, and outlines an agenda for action to make

these commitments a reality.

Following the principles of the first national Compact in 1998, local Compacts have typically sought to outline a series of protocols and undertakings and ways of working which manage the relationship between public sector bodies and the VCS. Such Compacts have been entirely voluntary and designed to demonstrate a shared commitment to joint working, and a process by which any issues can be raised and resolved.

The national Compact was revised and relaunched in 2009.

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The Gateshead Compact

Gateshead’s first Compact was published in 2002. It set out a range of

undertakings expected from each sector and provided a mechanism for closer

working between the public sector and the community and voluntary sector. The original Compact also provided a number of Codes of Practice necessary to support this complex working relationship.

This first Compact developed as a series of agreements between individual

statutory organisations and the VCS, and was not envisaged as a Gateshead wide, partnership based approach.

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The need for a new Compact

Whilst the original Compact was a useful starting point for understanding how
organisations work together, things have moved on significantly since its adoption.

In 2007, the GSP launched its Sustainable Community Strategy, Vision 2030, which set out Six Big Ideas to improve Gateshead. The ‘Gateshead Volunteers’ Big

Idea sets out objectives to support a thriving VCS and to promote the role of volunteering, recognising the major contribution the VCS makes to creating safe, sustainable communities in Gateshead.

The Gateshead Agreement - Gateshead’s Local Area Agreement - is the three year delivery plan to achieve the aims of Vision 2030. The Agreement has identified two strategic targets to improve, support, and develop the community and voluntary sector. One of these is to create a thriving VCS (NI7), and the other is to increase the number of volunteers in Gateshead (NI6). Both of these objectives have been the subject of recent Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviews by Gateshead Council, and their recommendations have been reflected in the Compact.

The policy context and value attached to the role of the VCS has therefore

changed significantly since the first Compact was produced.

This new Compact reflects these changes. It outlines the vision and key

principles underpinning a Compact, and the role of organisations in delivery.

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The purpose of the Compact

The GSP is committed through its Sustainable Community Strategy, Vision 2030, and Local Area Agreement to support, promote, and work in partnership with the community and voluntary sector to maintain the long-term health of the sector.

The function of this Compact is to set out the shared principles and actions which members of the GSP will take to create a thriving voluntary and community sector in Gateshead.

It differs from the previous Compact in that:
• It applies to all members of the Gateshead Strategic Partnership, and is based

  on a series of objectives which are shared by all partners;
• It is focused on four key shared commitments and a proactive approach to

  the delivery of these commitments, and therefore moves away from the ‘codes

  of practice’ approach of the previous Compact; and
• It is based around partnership working to deliver Vision 2030.

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