About the Compact
Local groups and public bodies working together to
achieve more for the local community.
What is the Dover District Compact?
- The Compact is a Government-led initiative and represents
partnership working at its best: a collective commitment to
improve relationships and the way we work together - creating
better outcomes for individuals and local communities.
- The Compact is a longstanding agreement with the
first National Compact ‘Getting it Right
Together’ being introduced
in November 1998.
- The 1998 Compact agreement, with five codes
of practice, was replaced in December 2009 by a new and
shorter document, with its commitments divided into three
areas covering involvement in policy development; allocating
resources and commissioning and achieving equality.
- New National Compact: In December
2010, the coalition government published a new Compact in
partnership with Compact Voice – the voice of the voluntary sector
on the Compact.
- Local Compacts, such as the Dover District Compact, are in
place across the country.
- Launched in September 2005, the Dover and District Compact sets
out how public bodies such as Dover District Council, Pimary
Care Trust and Kent Police will work together
with voluntary and community groups for the benefit of all
communities in the district. Background and launch details.
- Through local groups and public bodies working together we can
improve decision-making, services and community engagement –
bringing real benefits for everyone in the Dover District.
- The Compact is a living document and sets out a shared vision
and principles, and promises from both sides.
- Compact membership is open to all groups within
the Dover district.
Codes of Good Practice
Four codes of good practice support the Dover District
Compact:
- Resources
- Consultation and Policy Appraisal
- Valuing Volunteers
- Community Groups
These undertakings recognise that public bodies and voluntary
and community groups fulfil complementary roles in developing and
delivering services and activities across the district.
Partnership working is key; better relationships and the Compact
are crucial to better partnerships.
Principles
The principles behind the Compact are:
- Respect the contribution both the statutory and voluntary and
community sectors make to our society
- Understand the constraints that each partner works under
- Acknowledge each partners' role in providing quality
services
Coordinated service delivery across the district needs effective
partnership working. The Dover District Compact recognises that we
can achieve more by working together.
Partnerships need strong relationships. This is where the
Compact comes in as it forms the basis for good working
relationships between the statutory and voluntary and community
sector.
The best partnerships are those that empower local people to
have a say.
The aim is to increase the benefits to the whole community by
sharing knowledge, experience, expertise and resources.
What does it mean?
The Compact is not about tick-box compliance and underpins
public sector engagement with local voluntary and community groups.
The emphasis is now on partnership work and consultation. It means,
for example:
- Consulting early enough to make a difference (12 weeks is the
standard taken from the National Code of Practice on
consultation);
- Involving and engaging local groups in policy development and
delivery plans;
- Considering the impact of decisions on local groups and
communities.
The main reason for adopting a Compact is to provide better
services by working together to improve policy development and
service provision, and through a better understanding of what the
sectors do, and the constraints we work under.
The Compact is aligned to the Community Strategy, which seeks to improve the
economic, social and environmental well-being within the Dover
district and improve quality of life for everyone.
Who is it for?
It is for all public bodies and groups who work in the Dover
district – regardless of size - including community groups, black
and minority ethnic groups and faith groups.
How does a Compact benefit the local community?
The Dover District Compact aims to make the voluntary and
community sector a full and equal partner and recognises the sector
increasingly provides services for the local community.
The emphasis is now on partnership work and consultation. Your
Compact gives local groups a voice to empower their community and
ensure more democratic decision-making.
Voluntary and community groups work with the community at the
grass-roots level, so are ideally placed to understand the needs of
the people they are helping. For example, Age Concern understands
the service needs for the elderly population within the Dover
district and health groups know the needs of their members.
Before decisions are made about policy and service provision
these types of groups, who are signed up to the Compact, will be
consulted.
The Compact gives the voluntary and community sector a voice to
empower their community and ensures the decision-making process is
more democratic.
Local people can support the Dover District Compact by
encouraging voluntary and community groups to sign up.
What's in it for the Public Bodies?
- Better relations = better planning = better services: by
drawing on the expertise of local groups in Customer Access Reviews
and consultations
- Grass-roots engagement
- Public bodies can draw on knowledge from local groups
- Maintain high standards of governance, conduct and
accountability
- Help in policy development, planning and delivery
- Recognition and understanding of the sector
What's in it for Voluntary and Community Organisations?
- Consultation and involvement that works: having a say on what
matters to you, being heard and having your issue taken
seriously
- Equal partnership working
- Recognition and valuing of the sector
- Better access to information
- Local groups can gain more influence
What's in it for everyone?
- A definition of partnership which goes beyond funding and
includes a diverse range of voluntary and community
organisations
- Building relations that change how partners behave, engage and
work together to deliver better services
- Promises on both sides and somewhere to go to sort it out when
things go wrong
- Boosting community engagement and involvement in local
services
- Improved communication and consultation
- Have your say!
Compact Success: Award from the Big Lottery Fund
Thanks to a successful bid to the Big Lottery Fund, voluntary
and community groups in the district now have the benefit of 2
development workers, employed by CASE Kent: Community Network
Officer and a Compact Support Officer. Please see the BASIS
Big Lottery Fund pages for more information.
The Dover District Compact is more than a document
- It is a reference - to ensure promises are kept; and
- A way of working together - at individual, organisational and
partnership level.
There is now also a Dispute Resolution Procedure to hold one another
to account. A Dover & District Compact Implementation
Group meets quarterly to promote the Compact.
The more local groups sign up to, and use, the Compact the
stronger it will become.
True partnership working benefits all residents of Dover
District. The ultimate aim of the Compact is better outcomes for
people and stronger communities.
THE DOVER DISTRICT COMPACT:
“A living document which improves the way in which the partners
work together”
“We achieve more for the Community by working together”
Contact
Tel: 01304 872314
E-mail: policy@dover.gov.uk
