Office of the Third Sector Homepage

Main navigation

Compact Week launches with activities around the country

1 November 2007

Activities are taking place around the country to mark this year’s Compact Week, highlighting how the Government and the third sector can work together to benefit communities.

Compact Week takes place between 1 and 8 November and is now in its fifth year. The aim of the week is to raise awareness of the Compact and how it is being used to transform relationships between organisations.

The Compact, first published in 1998, is the agreement between the Government and the sector on how they should work together. The agreement is supported by codes of good practice on funding and procurement, consultation and policy appraisal, black and minority ethnic groups, volunteering and community groups. The Compact has an important role in supporting the transformation of public services and community engagement in policy-making.

Compact Week is a chance to celebrate and build on the Compact’s achievements. Activities in this year’s Compact Week include:

• a London region-wide event at City Hall, at which both Phil Hope, the Minister for the Third Sector, and Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, are speaking
• a ‘birthday party’ for the Compact organised by Merton Council
• a Croydon Council open day
• an event on third sector procurement organised by the Government Office for the North East
• presentations by members of Compact Voice (who represent the sector on the Compact) in East Sussex, Medway, Lichfield, Northumberland, Preston, Calderdale, Southend, Suffolk, Wakefield, Leicestershire, Blackpool, Northamptonshire and the Wirral
• a volunteer fair involving Baroness Neuberger organised by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Government Office for the East of England will also be speaking at the launch of Suffolk’s Local Compact.

Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, said: 

“Compact Week is a chance to celebrate the achievements of the Compact which, since 1998, has existed to ensure good partnerships between government, at all levels, and third sector organisations. Throughout the week government departments and offices for the regions will be engaging in activity to promote the Compact and raise awareness of its principles among public and civil servants. 

“We have already built a solid foundation for Government, the newly-established Commission, Compact Voice and other stakeholders to work closely to ensure the Compact becomes firmly embedded in the way we do business. I'm committed to the Government's work to strengthen the Compact – from putting new investment into the Commission, which we are planning to do later this year, to placing the Compact on the curriculum of the third sector training programme for 2,000 commissioners of public services that's due to launch early in the new year. There’s clearly more to do, but I am pleased that we have already seen firm progress within central government with many departments already signed up to three-year funding as the norm and expectation for others to do so from April.”