28 April 2010 Contents 01 The Compact refreshed 02 Equality Act causes confusion for charities 03 Third Gypsy, Roma & Traveller history month approaching 04 An opportunity for funding

01 The Compact refreshed

Developed from recommendations made by the Deakin Commission in 1996, The Compact sets out commitments between the Government and statutory sector and the third sector to work for the benefit of communities and citizens. The Compact is designed to frame the relationship wherever a third sector body deals with public bodies or is negotiating local compacts. It is supposed to achieve more informed policy decisions, better programme funding, progress towards a more equal society and greater value for money. However, only one in four councillors, local authority and primary care trust staff think the Compact has had any significant impact on their relations with charities. Further, Third Sector organisations have largely held the compact in low esteem, and the refresh at the tail end of last year does not seem to have changed that. BME and small organisations have expressed particular concerns regarding the refreshed document. It seems that the Compact was refreshed only to make it shorter, clearer and easier to use, and was successful in this regard. Over 60% of responses to a Government consultation said it represented an improvement, though the sample was extremely small.

Just as the refreshed Compact was being published, it was breached by Minister for the Third Sector Angela Smith's decision to call a day on the Campaigning Research Programme and divert £750,000 to the Hardship Fund. The 12 weeks notice of changes to funding, specified in the Compact, was not given. Worries were expressed that this undermined all the work undertaken in the ten previous years of the Compact. Angela Smith's commitment to the Compact was further criticised when she failed to attend the Compact's annual meeting, though the Minister argued that she, as a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society, could not attend an event held in London Zoo.

The breach repeated itself at local level. Compact Voice, the body that represents' the third sector's concerns to the Government, said it was 'very disturbed' by an alleged breach of the compact by Westminster Council. Voluntary Action Westminster (VAW) reported that they had 50% of their core grant funding for 2010/11 cut without consultation or notice. Westminster also apparently made 10% cuts across the whole sector and failed to carry out an equalities impact assessment. The Conservative Council defended itself by pointing to the level of competition for funding, and that they have since met with VAW to discuss their situation.

The majority of organisations affected by the withdrawal of the Campaigning Research Fund were BME organisations. These groups have also expressed concern that they are being 'ignored and marginalised' by the slimmed down compact removal of the codes of practice. The core substance of this has been retained, however, but the BME code of practice is now subsumed within an equalities agenda. The emphasis, consistent with new legislation, is instead on advancing equality, causing fears that such a broad emphasis dilutes its value to BME and minority groups. Voice4Change England was initially 'very disappointed' with the removal of the code of practice, but has since successfully campaigned for, and seems to be content with, a BME implementation guide currently in the pipeline.

Doubts remain about the value of the Compact to BME and smaller organisations overall. There is the hanging question of what the Compact has actually done for BME groups in all the time it has been around, and the suspicion that many public bodies simply see it as a box they have to tick.

Much of the emphasis on the revised Compact, or at least the promotion of it, is focussed on smaller charities, yet organisations representing small charities have said that the revised compact is 'not fit for purpose' and amounts to a charter for third sector subcontractors. Most of the 140,000 general charities in England are very small and have annual incomes of less than £10,000. Additionally, there are 55,000 social enterprises, over 4,500 co-operatives and over 1,830 housing associations. The compact's relevance is supposed to extend beyond registered organisations, to the 500,000 or so groups active at community level.

It is likely that small organisations are unaware of the compact. The director of the Community Sector Coalition Matthew Scott commented on the refreshed document signifying a government 'wish to suspend belief' about the effectiveness of the compact while Jay Kennedy, policy officer of the Directory of Social Change said that he believed "the bulk of the sector will remain uninterested" in a document "destined for irrelevance". Meanwhile, the fundamentally unequal relationship between Government and the third sector, especially small third sector organisations, remains. Amongst critics, giving the Commission for the Compact statutory powers is a suggested remedy, but that may not be realistic or could even have the reverse effect.

02 Equality Act causes confusion for charities

03 Third Gypsy, Roma & Traveller history month approaching

June provides an apt opportunity to celebrate Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History. Since 2008, thousands of Gypsies and Travellers have worked with central government, local authorities, schools, and museums and had a 'Travellers' got talent' competition to raise awareness of the history and culture of those communities.

04 An opportunity for funding

An opportunity for funding is available from the Awards for All England grants scheme. If you have a project aimed at improving health, strengthening communities, improving environments and/or improving peoples' life skills, you can apply for a grant of £300-£10,000. The application is short, simple and found here.