About The Surrey Compact
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Compact?
A Compact is a written commitment between public bodies and the voluntary and community sector, about how they will relate to each other. It's about creating benefits for everyone by working together in the spirit of trust and respect. This provides the basis to address many important issues.
A National Compact was published in 1998. The Government expected Local Compacts in every local authority area by the end of March 2005. In addition, many other statutory bodies have to be covered by a Compact, including Health and Police and Learning and Skills Councils.
What is the Surrey Compact?
Surrey Compact Brochure (PDF Size 1MB)
The Surrey Compact is a commitment to continually improve relationship by:
- sharing information and best practice between partners
- respecting inclusion and equality
- all organisations having an equal voice to all
- trust and openness
- working together
- delivering better outcomes
- simplifying and improving the funding process
- improving communication and resolving disputes
- the use of these to provide better services for the people of Surrey.
Why is the Surrey Compact important?
It provides the foundation for better partnership working. This is ever more important to be able to meet the needs of communities when resources are shrinking.
The Government assesses how well the Councils and other public sector organisations are engaging with the other sectors. Working with the Surrey Compact helps to create - and demonstrate - better partnership working. This helps us all to use our resources more effectively.
Evidence gathered by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations shows that Compacts do improve the relationship between the public and voluntary sectors. This benefits Surrey residents, and those that work in both sectors, through more collaborative working and better understanding of each others' needs