South Ayrshire Council News

Members of South Ayrshire Council’s Leadership Panel have agreed in principle to a Voluntary Sector Compact, or agreement, being developed for South Ayrshire.

Councillor Hugh Hunter, the Leader of South Ayrshire Council said: “The Compact will bring mutual benefits and assist the Council to develop further the way in which it works with the Voluntary Sector and help to provide them with more joint training opportunities. By identifying common priorities, gaps in services and improving communication we will together be able to deliver a better service. Importantly by working in partnership will be eligible to access a range of external funding to support projects.”

The Voluntary Sector provides a range of services, including in specialist areas such as health and are delivered in a variety of ways by:

• Voluntary Sector organisations
• Volunteering as an activity.
• Organisations that have paid staff and deliver intensive services.
• Community sector and local community based voluntary organisations

A Compact between Community Planning Partners and the Voluntary Sector would bring many benefits including:

• Assisting with the delivery of local services.
• A shared understanding of what public and Voluntary Sector organizations are trying to achieve.
• Positive impact on Community Planning Partnership outcomes.
• Developing resources to build capacity in the sector.
• Joint work to fit in external resources.

To make sure that, once developed, the Compact is efficiently implemented a steering group, with a representative from each political group within the Council will be established. A Chair will be appointed and the group will be supported by representatives from the Council’s Education, Culture and Lifelong Learning, Social Work Housing and Health and Community Safety. The group will reach agreement on resource requirements for particular focused pieces of work and work closely with partners and adopt best practices that have already been established by others.

The proposal to form a Compact was discussed at a voluntary sector conference in June this year, and once a draft has been prepared on the future of the Compact it will be put out to public consultation.