Policy

11 June, 2008

Compact has not made a 'big difference'

Only a quarter of councillors believe it has

According to research carried out by nfpSynergy, only 25% of councillors and 24% of local authority staff agreed with the statement: 'The local government Compact has made a big difference to our relationship with charities.'

The survey of 460 councillors and more than 420 local authority staff, including Chief Executives and employees in Primary Care Trusts, social care, housing and education - also found that 63% of councillors and 59% of local authority staff thought charities were able to provide public services as cost-effectively as private companies.

The research found that the majority of councillors and local authority staff were either unaware of the Compact or thought it did not make much difference.

Commenting on the findings, Lindsay Sutherland, a researcher for nfpSynergy said -

'The implication of the survey is that councillors and local authority staff are behind the idea of the Compact and that they do want to work with charities, but the fact that the Compact is not binding could mean that they don't give much importance to it.'

Both groups were strongly supportive of the idea that charities should be able to 'campaign to change the policies of local government relevant to their work'.

Richard Corden, Chief Executive of the Commission for the Compact, believed the report sent out conflicting signals, because although many councillors and local authority staff thought the Compact had not made a big difference, there was a lot of support for the right of charities to campaign to change local government policies.

'Establishing the freedom of charities to campaign is one of the main principles of the Compact. Local councils strongly agree with the principles of the Compact.'

For more information, see the Third Sector article Compact has 'had little impact'.

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