Compact Commissioner calls for debate on the future of the Compact and Commission

7 Jul 2008

Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner for the Compact, today called for a debate on the future of the Compact and the role of the Commission for the Compact at a seminar, organised by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). The event was attended by Phil Hope MP, Minister for the Third Sector, and the audience consisted of representatives from the Third Sector.

In his speech, Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner for the Compact, said:

“My comments today are intended to start a conversation and nothing has been chiselled into granite. We need your thoughts and those of others. I want the Compact to succeed and I want to do what I can to secure its success. But it is not my Compact - it is yours.”

“Depending to whom I listen, the Compact is one of these: a waste of time and space; a good idea but the documents are out of date and becoming irrelevant; fine as it is - but the Government needs to meet its commitments more of the time; only worth keeping if it is backed by statutory powers.

“And I think the general message from across the Third Sector can be summarised like this. We want to have a partnership working agreement with the Government; life for us has been better with the Compact over the past 10 years than it would have been without; but we are frustrated at the slow pace with which the Government has implemented its side of the Compact.”

“I had not read the Compact for many years until I joined the Commission. When I did re-read it was clear that it was beginning to show its age… it is clear that some codes have aged better than others and that together they do not form a coherent and comprehensive set… The environment in which the Compact lives has changed and so must the Compact.

“… It is difficult to escape the conclusion that significant rewriting and enhancement is needed if the Compact is to see us through the next 10 years. The Compact was always meant to be an evolving agreement which changed in response to the changing world, while keeping faith with the enduring principle that underpin it.”

Sir Bert’s initial views on the Compact

They include:

• Significant rewriting of the Compact to revise and enhance it.
• Consideration to be given to incorporating all the Codes into a single document with the possibility of including new topics.
• Updating the BME Code to reflect recent changes in legislations and wider development in thinking on equalities.
• The inclusion of more direction concerning the respect of Third Sector independence and how the Government does it in practice.
• Addressing issues to do with public body appointments to boards of charities.
• Undertaking a wide consultation between Compact partners and the Third Sector on the future of the Compact and the role of the Commission for the Compact over the coming months, in particular the question regarding statutory powers.

Sir Bert’s response to the statutory question

Regarding the question of whether the Compact should be statutory, Sir Bert said he had given a great deal of thought to this and recognised the arguments for as well as against, saying:

“I am warm to idea of a statutory remedy. I become more cautious when I analyse what it would mean in practice.”

Sir Bert then went on to mention issues which would need to be resolved before a position could be finalised on the statutory question. He said that a new statutory Compact would need to be agreed by every Government Department before it became law and expressed concern that the end result could be a weaker document than the present Compact. In addition, he asked if the law would apply only to the public sector or if it would be two-sided and impose legal obligations on Third Sector organisations.

In conclusion to this question, Sir Bert said:

“Before we finalise a position on whether the Compact should be statutory we need to resolve some of these issues. These are difficult issues and we need to address them with thought and care.”

Sir Bert’s initial views concerning the Commission for the Compact

On the role of the Commission for the Compact, Sir Bert said:

“Just as I think the Compact should change, I think that the Commission should also. We should be what we say on the tin - ‘Commission for the Compact’. We should be the holders of the flame of the Compact working with all the parties… It must be a strong and dynamic Commission reflecting a strong and dynamic Compact.”

His initial views include:

• The Government establishing the Commission as a statutory corporation.
•  The Commission being given powers to investigate breaches of the Compact and call for witnesses and documentation. It should help to resolve disputes and publish regular reports on the health of the Compact.
• A review of the Governance of the Commission for the Compact, with its Non-Executive Board being expanded to include representation from Compact Voice and the public sector.
• The Commission’s structure to include a full research team.

A complete transcript of Sir Bert’s speech can be downloaded from:

www.thecompact.org.uk/news

A dedicated email address has been set up at the Commission for the Compact to receive comments about the future of the Compact and the role of the Commission. Please forward any comments to:

debate@thecompact.org.uk

Notes for Editors

• The Compact was established in England in November 1998 and was inspired by the Deakin Commission report on the Future of the Voluntary Sector. It is an agreement that provides an overall framework for promoting effective partnership working between the Government and the voluntary and community sector. It aims to address areas of poor performance and sets out a statement of intent to work in partnership supported by five codes of practice. These five codes cover funding and procurement, community groups, Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups, volunteers and consultation.

• Sir Bert Massie CBE was appointed Commissioner for the Compact in March 2008. He has worked in the voluntary sector for 40 years and has served on a number of government advisory committees. He is a former Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, now part of the recently created Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and Chief Executive of RADAR, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation. He is currently a Commissioner for the EHRC in conjunction with his new role at the Commission for the Compact. Sir Bert was created a Knight in 2007 in recognition of his services to disabled people

• Established in April 2007, the Commission for the Compact is an independent body responsible for overseeing the Compact. It was set up to improve awareness of the Compact and its Codes of Good Practice, and to address the barriers to its adoption and implementation. The Commission works alongside the Office of the Third Sector, Compact Voice and the Local Government Association to achieve effective implementation of the Compact, and improve outcomes for both individuals and communities. It works with all stakeholders to take the Compact forward through increasing awareness, sharing good practice and carrying out research, looking at key themes that affect the relationship between statutory and voluntary sectors.

Ends

Useful Downloads

Press Release - Debate
Bert Massie Compact Debate Speech

For media enquiries, please contact:

Rebecca Morris, Head of Communications
Commission for the Compact
Tel: 0121 237 5913
Mobile: 07977 793 936
Email: rebecca.morris@thecompact.org.uk

Jemima Broadbridge, Media Officer
National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Tel: 0207 520 2469
Email: jemima.broadbridge@ncvo-vol.org.uk