Newcastle CVS

The Compact is an agreement between Newcastle City Council and the voluntary and community sector in Newcastle. 

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

Newcastle City Council and Newcastle CVS have worked together to develop the Compact.  It is based on the Compact between the national government and voluntary and community groups that was agreed in 1998. They have both been updated and the national and local Compacts were refreshed in 2010.

Newcastle City Council is currently in the process of updating the Newcastle Compact and it is consulting on this process until May 2013 and it is hoped a new Newcastle Compact will be agreed in June 2013

To read the draft compact visit http://digbig.com/5bhedw

To respond to the consultation visit http://digbig.com/5bhedx

The Newcastle Compact and codes of practice

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

• Newcastle Compact
• Funding code of practice
• How it works and how to deal with disagreements
• Consultation and liaison code of practice
• Volunteering code of practice

National Compact

The Compact is an agreement between the government and the voluntary sector in England, first made in November 1998, which aims to improve the working relationship between the two sectors for mutual advantage. The Compact was refreshed in December 2009 and subsequently renewed in 2010. All local areas in England are covered by a local or regional variation of the Compact, developed by local partners.

• The Compact

Debating the future of the Compact 2008

In 2008, the Commission for the Compact issued a discussion paper on issues around the future of the Compact, mainly focusing on whether the Compact should have statutory powers. Our view was that this would not be helpful and submitted a response. This document may be interesting for an historical perspective.

• Newcastle CVS response to Debating the future of the Compact

Voluntary Sector Liaison Group

The Voluntary Sector Liaison Group is a quarterly meeting between Newcastle City Council and the voluntary sector in Newcastle.  It is the strategic group that oversees issues of relevance to the voluntary and community sector and its relationship with the statutory sector in Newcastle.  It is the formal consultative mechanism for the council to discuss strategic issues that impact on the voluntary and community sector in Newcastle.  It oversees the Newcastle Compact and ensures it remains fit for purpose.

Useful links

• Compact Voice