Cabinet Office Third Sector

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Background to the Compact

The Compact is underpinned by codes of good practice on:

The Compact and codes together set out a shared vision and principles, along with undertakings for both sides of the relationship. It applies to central government departments, government offices for the regions, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, and to the range of organisations in the voluntary and community sector.

Local Compacts, informed by the national Compact and Codes, are local level agreements for partnership working between voluntary and community sector organisations and public sector bodies at the local level. All local authority areas have, or are developing, a Local Compact.

For more information or to download the Compact, Codes of Good Practice, and the Local Compact Implementation Workbook visit the Compact website [External website].

Strengthening the Compact

An independent Commission for the Compact has been set up to promote best practice in partnership working and to oversee the operation of the relationship between government and the sector.

This followed from the response to the Government's consultation Strengthening Partnerships: Next steps for Compact, published in March 2005:

Following joint analysis of the results of the consultation with the Compact Working Group (now Compact Voice), the sixth annual meeting to review the Compact agreed that a new Commissioner's office should be created to oversee the operation of the Compact and to strengthen partnership working between public sector bodies and the voluntary and community sector, ensuring better implementation of the Compact.

The Office of the Third Sector worked together with Compact Voice [External website], which represents the third sector at the strategic level on the Compact, to set up the Commission. The Commission launched its business plan in April 2007, and there is now a permanent team in place at the Commissioner's office in Birmingham.