History of the Compact

Over 25,000 organisations were consulted on the Compact before its launch in 1998, it has since attracted attention from over 25 nations worldwide. The first Local Compact was published in 1999 by Dorset County.

The Compact was developed from recommendations made by the Deakin Commission Report on the Future of the Voluntary Sector and from the policy document Building the Future Together.

The Deakin Commission concluded that Government should recognise the legitimacy of the voluntary and community sector's diverse roles and its own responsibility to promote a healthy sector. It proposed a 'concordat' drawn up between representatives of government and the sector, laying down basic principles for future relations. Building the Future Together concluded that a Compact, underpinned by a set of principles, was necessary as the basis for a partnership between government and the voluntary and community sector.

Brief History of the Compact

• 1996 Deakin Commission calls for government/sector formal agreement through Future of the Voluntary Sector
• 1997 Labour Party publishes Building the Future Together
• 1997 Conference of leading sector umbrella bodies backs NCVO's proposal for a Compact Working Group on Government Relations (set up as Compact Working Group, now renamed Compact Voice)
• 1998 Compact agreed and launched
• 2000 Funding Code published (revised 2005 as Funding and Procurement Code)
• 2000 Consultation and Policy Appraisal Code published
• 2000 Local Compact Guidelines published (revised as Local Compact Implementation Workbook, 2006)
• 2001 Black and Minority Ethnic Groups Code published
• 2001 Volunteering Code published (revised 2005)
• 2003 Community Groups Code published
• 2005 Compact Plus Consultation - Strengthening Partnerships: Next Steps for Compact
• 2006 Commissioner for the Compact appointed (John Stoker)
• 2007 Commission for the Compact established
• 2008 New Commissioner for the Compact appointed - Sir Bert Massie 
• 2009 A refreshed national Compact is published
  

You can download a summary and dated account of all the key milestones and decisions that occured in the first 10 Years of the Compact below:

History of the Compact