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A Compact Working Group has been set up to develop Hackney's Compact, consultation on the refreshed document opened for three months and closes on 27 June 2008.
HCVS held three consultation events attended by over 30 people, including Matthew Nimmo, the consultant working on the Compact, Susan Gooding, new Head of Service, Community Partnerships at Team Hackney and Ajamu Mutumwa also from Team Hackney. |
At each event we explained what the Compact was and then used different scenarios to discuss how it could be used and what it should cover. Through this we were able to identify areas which needed more work. There was a lot of confusion around what the Compact stood for, what it’s real purpose is and whether it can actually deliver what it has been set out to do.
Compact: a nebulous concept?
As well as concern about the public sector’s commitment to following it through. Views ranged from seeing it as a useful opportunity for mature dialogue to seeing the Compact as a nebulous concept and a tick box exercise.
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The main topics discussed were:
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stronger and clearer wording around funding and commissioning commitments by the public sector: particularly around notice on cutting contracts, having a named contact to discuss a particular grant, contracts for smaller organisations
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clarity on partnership working: parameters need to be set on partners’ obligations, particularly when public sector agencies want to break away from the relationship
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flexibility and respect for data collected on service users: funders need to be more flexible in what data they need to collect on service users, many groups found their users did not want to give out detailed contact information, statutory bodies need to be clear about what they are doing with this information, needs to protect the right of the VCS to keep their own data
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making the Compact accessible and digestible: commitment to dedicated Compact Worker to ensure small groups are involved, re-design the layout so it is straightforward and easy to refer to
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ensuring the VCS is involved in regeneration: respect for VCS management of premises, clarity on role of VCS in regeneration. |
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Compact discussion |
Submit your feedback
 You can read the full version of the Compact by clicking here
 Click here for an easy feedback form to help you submit your thoughts on the Compact (92 KB)
Read more about the Compact in the last issue of SPARK available here
Next steps
All the consultation information will be fed back to the Compact Working Group and put in a final version of the Compact. This will then go to the VCS and public sector bodies for final sign off. The Compact Working Group have identified that if the Compact is to be implemented effectively then it does need to also be properly resourced. The Group are looking into funding a Compact Worker who would take this forward in both the VCS and public sector.
The Group is also considering the idea of Compact Champions, people from both sectors who would help raise awareness and implement the Compact in their organisations. If you are interested in this please contact niall@hcvs.org.uk
Compact Links
Click here for a list of web links to help you find out more about the Compact
Click here for Hackney's refreshed Compact and feedback form
HCVS will keep you updated on progress with the Compact through our email information service and on our website. If you would like to join our information service please contact Gillian Trevethan on gillian@hcvs.org.uk or 020 7923 1962.
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