Cabinet Office
Promised new proposals on the agreement between the voluntary and public sectors fail to materialise before end of consultation period
New proposals to strengthen the Compact have not been announced by the Office for Civil Society in time to be considered in a consultation about the agreement that ended last Friday.
Individuals and organisations had six weeks to comment on the new, shorter version of the Compact, which is intended to ensure fair play in dealings between the voluntary and public sector.
The new version has been put forward by the OCS and Compact Voice, the body that represents the voluntary sector on Compact issues.
The two organisations had planned to announce other mechanisms to beef up the agreement before the consultation ended. But this has not happened, which means interested parties have missed the chance to discuss these mechanisms in their consultation responses.
A spokesman for Compact Voice said:"We understand discussions are still taking place across government to ensure support for the best possible accountability measures." Nobody at the OCS was available for comment.
The Compact Voice spokesman said the renewed version was due to be published at the end of the month. But he added: "Compact Voice will not sign the document if our board is not satisfied that it represents the best deal for the sector."
Today marks the start of Compact Week. Organised by the Commission for the Compact, which will be abolished in spring next year, it has adopted the theme "New challenges, new opportunities".
The annual Compact awards will take place tomorrow night and other activities will take place to mark the week.
