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Compact

The Compact is an agreement between Newcastle City Council and the Voluntary Sector in Newcastle. 

The Compact describes the relationship between Newcastle City Council and voluntary organisations in the city.  It is not a legally binding document.  The authority of the Compact comes from the fact that the City Council and the voluntary sector have made an agreement to work together in the way the Compact describes.

Newcastle City Council and Newcastle Council for Voluntary Service have worked together to develop the Compact.  It is based on the Compact between the national government and voluntary groups that was agreed in 1998.

The codes of practice

Codes of Practice have been developed to give more detail about the practical arrangements which the Compact requires.  Codes of practice currently exist on the subjects of funding, resolving disagreements, consultation and liaison, and volunteering.

Click on the links below to open the documents in PDF format in separate windows.  You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your PC in order to open them.  If you don't have this free software on your PC, click on the Adobe logo at the bottom of this screen to download it.

Compact (95kb)

Funding Code of Practice (184kb)

How it works and how to deal with disagreements (85kb)

Consultation and Liaison Code of Practice (116kb)

Volunteering Code of Practice (192kb)

"Debating the future of the Compact"

The Commission for the Compact has issued a discussion paper on issues around the future of the Compact, the chief of which is the matter of whether it would be improved by having statutory powers.  NCVS's view is that this would not be helpful and our response to this discussion paper (see below) details our reasons for believing this.

NCVS Compact Consultation Response (95kb)

To download a copy of the discussion paper and to find out more about the Compact visit www.thecompact.org.uk

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