Refreshing the Sunderland Compact
 What is the Compact?
The Compact was established in England in 1998 and exists at national, regional and local levels. The Compact is a code of good practice that governs relationships between central government and the voluntary and community sector. We are currently developing the Sunderland Compact, which will be our local Compact in Sunderland.
The Sunderland Compact will be a code of practice between voluntary and community sector organisations and the organisations of the Sunderland Partnership. It will cover everything from how community groups are consulted with, to how voluntary and community sector organisations can be involved in commissioning and procurement, to promoting volunteering.
The Compact is a voluntary agreement and should be seen as a strong tool to enhance partnership working, leading to better provision and delivery of services to citizens of Sunderland.
 A Letter from Christine Charlton the newly appointed Compact Engagement Officer
Compact Consultation
Since the launch of the work to refresh the Sunderland Partnership Compact in November 2007, working groups have been meeting to develope the Five Codes of Practice. Three of the codes, plus the main Compact text are now available for consultation.
The remaining two code of practice are still being developed and updates will be posted on this site.
The consultation period is open until 19th September 2008 and we welcome views from all organisations of the Sunderland Partnership.
To take part in the consultation simply open the relevant document, which you can either print off and complete and return to:
Community Development Team, Jack Crawford House, Commercial Road, Sunderland, SR2 8QR or complete online and submit using the email button.
Why we need the Sunderland Compact
In Sunderland we have two Compacts:- the Sunderland Partnership Compact (2000) and the Health and Social Care Compact (2002). Both compacts have had varying degrees of success and recognition, with the Health and Social Care Compact being recognised nationally as good practice.
Click HERE to download the current Sunderland Partnership Compact (2000)
Click HERE to download the current Health and Social Care Compact (2002)
Through the consultations held on the Sunderland Community Development Plan http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/communitydevelopment/comdevplan.asp it became apparent that there was a need to refresh the Sunderland Compact. It was agreed that this would help to build relationships between the voluntary and community sector and statutory sectors.
Process of Refreshing the Compact
We recognise that refreshing the Compact may be a lengthy process. The period to 31st March 2008 will enable us to look at the good practice from the original Compacts, learn from the areas that need improvement and respond to national Compact developments. By the end of March we will have produced:
- the main Compact text
- the draft Code of Practice texts
- the Code of Practice implementation action plans
The national Compact has developed five Codes of Practice on:
Five Code of Practice working groups has been established and are co-led by a representative from the statutory sector and the voluntary and community sector. The groups will consider the relevance of these Codes of Practice to Sunderland to ensure they are truly relevant to Sunderland’s relationship needs. In some cases the Sunderland Codes of Practices will be expanded, for example:
- Communities of Identity rather than Communities of Interest
- Community Groups to incorporate geographical communities
Download the National Compact Summary document
Sunderland
Community Network, Riverview House, West Wear Street, Sunderland,
SR1 1XD. Click
here for map.  |
