South Ayrshire Compact

Discussions are currently taking place to improve relationships between Public Sector organisations like local authorities and the NHS and the third sector (voluntary and community sector).

Part of these discussions involve a compact (an agreement) laying out terms and conditions for the relationship, what both sides can expect, and routes for making things happen.

We would like to invite third sector groups to comment on the draft compact before the 5th November, when it will progress towards the next stage and future formal adoption by South Ayrshire and representatives of the third sector. The document is viewed as a starting point, with lot of development still to come, but contains the main principles and is something to build on.

You can download the full compact document here, and if you have any feedback, please email Gerry McCoy at Girvan Horizons before 5th November 2008.

An extract from the beginning of the document follows to give you a taste of what the compact means;

Background
A South Ayrshire Regeneration and Voluntary Sector Conference in 2007 identified a desire and willingness to develop an agreement (compact) between the third sector and the Community Planning Partnership. A variety of benefits were seen in joint working and a more cohesive partnership approach on a range of issues. A short-life working group presented a paper to the council, which was enthusiastically endorsed by the council leader. The group went on to undertake various fact finding research on existing information, visits to other CPP’s with developed compacts, audits of current linkages and agreements plus discussion on the proposed areas of- content for a South Ayrshire Compact. Progress reports were made to the Council and the 2008 Conference, with additional input sought for the development of a draft strategy. The draft strategy was presented to the various public and third sector partners and to a variety of community groups for approval in September 2008 with a formal agreement signed in November 2008.

Vision
The South Ayrshire Compact has a vision where all sectors work together towards a shared goal of improving the quality of a life for all our residents and communities.
We recognise that both the public and third sectors have a distinctive contribution to make to the quality of life in South Ayrshire and believe that through working together we can achieve our goals.
What is the Compact?
The South Ayrshire Compact is a formal agreement between the public and third sectors to develop and establish plans through which we can work together to achieve both our individual and joint potential to maximise our impact on the quality of life for South Ayrshire residents and communities.
The Compact is about the relationships between the third sector and public agencies and improving partnership working between the sectors at all levels.
The partners have agreed to the following shared values:

• Active citizenship
• Quality services
• Equalities
• Closing the opportunity gap
Through the Compact we will work together to achieve these shared values by:
• Developing considered strategies and policies
• Improvements to the planning and delivery of services
• Increasing options for service delivery
• Improved engagement.
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The Partners
The parties to this Compact are the public agencies operating in South Ayrshire and the South Ayrshire Third Sector.

The public sector agencies operating in South Ayrshire include South Ayrshire Council, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Strathclyde Police, Scottish Enterprise, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service etc. The South Ayrshire Third Sector encompasses a range of diverse organisations and community groups which support and deliver a variety of activities and services for the benefit of our residents, often filling gaps and being complementary to existing public service provision. These partners have distinctive features that can enable and contribute to the achievement of the Compact Strategic Aims:

• Large scale
The largest employer in South Ayrshire is South Ayrshire Council the largest single employer in Ayrshire is NHS Ayrshire & Arran. High numbers of people are also employed or involved in individual volunteering and are taking part in voluntary sector activities.

• Multi Functional
A comprehensive range of skills, knowledge and resources to be able to address agreed outcomes.

• Democratic Legitimacy
The Council in particular has a democratic legitimacy that forms the basis for its activities.

• New Social Capital
The third sector provides opportunities for residents to manage and deliver services or activities, which improve the quality of life. In doing so, this builds individual and community capacity and can bring communities together.

• Flexibility
The third sector in particular has a strong track record in promoting new ways of working and in providing innovative services.

• Resourcing
The third sector has the capability to attract a variety of additional funding and resourcing e.g. volunteer time, which is both additional and complementary to public sector core funding.

The South Ayrshire Third Sector
It is recognised that the Third Sector makes an enormous contribution to our society and economy. It provides services and facilities; it adds economic value to our communities; it provides employment; it involves all age groups and sections of society and helps the cohesion and stability of our society. The Third Sector often initiates change and can react quickly to changes and has often been at the forefront of innovation. In South Ayrshire the sector ranges from small-scale local groups to multi-million pound business. It includes:
• Over 600 third sector organisations
• Providing a wide range of support and services
• Locally based and national organisations
• Grown out of identified need
• Some employ staff, other depend on volunteers
• The CVO alone, assisted 24 groups access £0.5m in 2007
• Challenges – sustainability, legislation, management skills
• Volunteer Centre works with 157 organisations
• Provides 275 different volunteering opportunities, registering over 2,000 per annum.
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Our Compact Strategic Aims
• Ensure the involvement of the third sector in the joint planning and provision of services
• Increase awareness and understanding of the third sector and understanding of public sector partners’ roles
• Increase mutual recognition of the particular roles and strengths of the third sector and public sector partners
• Make a commitment to developing the third sector and increase the role of the third sector in policy making and service delivery at all levels
• Sustain and develop the resources and capacity building support available to the third sector
• Support and develop the particular role of volunteering and active citizenship
• Support increased and improved community engagement
• Increase mutual confidence in the ability of partners to deliver effectively

Principles of Working
The following principles are binding on all partners and will set the framework for working together:

Transparency
There will be freedom of information in both directions and we will be open, honest and truthful with each other.

Accountability
We will agree ways to measure the impact of our work towards our shared objectives, providing information and recognising lessons learned to constantly improve our activities and inform our action plans

Mutual Respect
All parties to this Compact will treat each other as equals and recognise the value of everyone’s contribution.

Partnership
We believe that through working together we can achieve more for our residents and achieve our shared goals. We will work together to achieve our agreed outcomes, guided by our shared values.

Understanding
We recognise the important role and contribution of all the compact partners. We will work to improve the understanding and trust between both sectors with an increased awareness of our contributions, roles, responsibilities and environments in which we work.

Commitment
Both the public and third sector have agreed and committed themselves to a proactive partnership to work together to deliver our agreed values and actions.

Communication and Engagement
We will seek to provide regular communication and genuine, meaningful engagement with all of our society. We will use National Standards for Community Engagement as guidance for developing relationships between all sectors.

Individual partners have responsibility for ensuring that these principles and the compact action plan are integrated into all aspects of their activity.

If you wish to read the full document, please click here to download it, and send your feedback to Gerry McCoy at Girvan Horizons before 5th November 2008.

Thank you
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