1: Partnership working | Compact Voice

Reviewing our impact, and asking for your input

This week Compact Voice published our annual Impact Report, outlining the various activities and achievements that took place during 2012.

This is the fourth impact report I’ve been involved with since starting at Compact Voice, and it’s reassuring to look over them and see how much progress has been made over the last few years.

Compact Voice Impact Report 2012

Published by Compact Voice in early 2013, the Impact Report highlights the key activities and achievements delivered by the Compact Voice team during the year.

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Provoking engagement

One of the best reasons to renew a local Compact is to develop engagement in the renewal process from a wide range of local organisations.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But in the current climate of shrinking resources and growing pressure on frontline service delivery in both sectors, getting people to respond to consultations, attend events and engage in shaping a local Compact can be an uphill struggle. So I was intrigued by a great example of ‘provocative’ engagement in the renewal of the Bristol Compact that I came across recently.

West Midlands Compact Panel: Promoting good practice locally

The West Midlands Compact Panel has enabled the sharing of good practice about the Compact and Compact principles and helped to strengthen partnership working across the West Midlands. It is attended by both public sector and VCS representatives who have an open and honest dialogue about how best to deal with current issues and challenges.

Guest blog: Coffee, Cake & Compact

This latest guest bIog is from James Hadman, who is Voice Development Manager at Catalyst, the local voluntary sector infrastructure organisation in Stockton-on-Tees.

Here he discusses the challenges and successes of getting their local Compact 'off the shelf' and raising awareness of it locally.

Briefing: What should voluntary organisations expect from government in the age of localism?

As part of the Compact Week conference in 2012, Compact Voice hosted a panel debate where speakers discussed the question 'what can voluntary and community organisations expect from government in the age of localism?'.

We also asked a selection of leading figures and opinion formers in the voluntary and public sectors to share their thoughts on the topic, and compiled their answers into a single document. This is available to download here.

Making the most of Compact Week

For many organisations, Compact Week is a chance to celebrate the partnership activities they have been involved with over the course of the year.

For others, it’s a chance to reflect on how things have gone, perhaps announcing new initiatives to tackle barriers to stronger partnership working, launching new publications or even Compact agreements.

For Compact Voice, it’s the chance to do many of these things.

Informing and influencing the new health landscape: Case studies

This collection of case studies explores how particular areas have successfully engaged with new and emerging health structures – such as Health and Wellbeing Boards.

The case studies provide an insight into what has worked well in different areas across England, with the hope that areas struggling to have any engagement at all can learn from their experiences.

Compact Voice gathered the case studies during the process of developing our briefing ‘Informing and influencing the new local health landscape: A guide for local Compacts’.

Redbridge: Making the spirit of the Compact leap from the pages

The Redbridge Compact 2011-2014 does far more than list shared principles.

It sells the Compact based on what it can do for partners and describes what good Compact working looks like in a way that makes sense in the real world.

Compact Spotlight on South Gloucestershire

The Compact is working well in South Gloucestershire, thanks to the commitment of a wide range of partner agencies to work together. An active Compact group ensures that the Compact is integrated with key issues such as commissioning and Localism and that there is open and honest dialogue between partners.

Read more about how South Gloucestershire have got to where they are in this 'spotlight' case study.