North Lincolnshire Compact - Better Together
The North Lincolnshire local compact (NLLC) "Better Together", sets out how the public sector (PS) and voluntary and community sector (VCS) will work together to benefit the local community. It is in line with the North Lincolnshire Strategic Partnership.
In 1998 the Government formed a National Compact between the VCS. The aim of this compact is to improve their relationship for mutual advantage. Codes of practice have been developed from the principles outlined in the National Compact. These are:
- funding
- consultation
- community groups
- volunteering
- black and minority ethnic groups.
The Government set a target for all 388 English councils to publish a Local Compact by April 2004. Compacts between the VCS and major PS organisations are being agreed in many different parts of the country. Their aim is to achieve a sustained culture of mutual understanding, trust and confidence. This enables the partners of the compact to find effective ways of working co-operatively towards important outcomes for local people.
This may all sound well and good, but how does such an agreement benefit the local community?
The PS is no longer the sole provider of services for the community. The VCS increasingly provides services for the local community. The compact aims to make the VCS a full and equal partner. It allows them to contribute to policy decisions and how services are provided.
The VCS tends to work with the community at the grass roots level. For example, Age Concern understands the service requirements for the elderly population within the local community. Health groups are well aware of the needs of their members. Who better to consult when forming policies regarding equal opportunity than the black minority and ethnic groups who face discrimination? The emphasis is now on partnership work and extensive consultation.
Before decisions are made about policy and service provision these types of groups will be consulted. This means that the community has a voice. It also ensures that the decision making process is more democratic. Local people can support these changes by encouraging voluntary and community groups to sign up to the NLLC. The NLLC should be seen as a platform for the VCS to stand on and be given a voice to empower their community.
Compact launch
After extensive consultation with the PS and VCS, North Lincolnshire launched it's local compact. It was launched at a conference held on 8 November 2002 at the Baths Hall, Scunthorpe. Copies of the local compact are available from:
- Council offices
- Local links
- Scunthorpe Library
- The Compact Development Officer (details below).
The launch conference was hosted by FACT (Forum of Active Communities Together). FACT is a project managed by Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire. It was a high profile event with speakers from all sectors. These included both local members of parliament and Steve Chalke, the founding director of Faithworks. Steve is also an author and a regular broadcaster for television and radio.
The launch was met with much enthusiasm from all sectors. They could see the potential for the future positive impact of the compact for working "better together". To date over 100 organisations have signed up to the compact. The compact booklet is available to download:
The document is very large and therefore may take some time to download.
For further details please contact:
Geraldine Miller
Tel. 01724 296326
Email: geraldine.miller@northlincs.gov.uk.
Note: The booklet is in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need a suitable reader to view it. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).
More information: