The long-awaited Civil Society Covenant was officially launched by the Prime Minister last week at a first-of-its-kind summit, which brought together senior leaders from civil society, the impact economy, the civil service and several senior political leaders including a fifth of the cabinet and several other senior political leaders from central, local and regional government. The day-long event included speeches from both the Prime Minister and Lisa Nandy Secretary of State at the Department for Culture Media and Sport , and panel discussions with Stephanie Peacock MP Minister for Civil Society, Darren Jones MP Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Bridget Phillipson MP Education Secretary, Georgia Gould MP Cabinet Office Minister, Jess Phillips MP Home Office Minister, Kirsty McNeill MP Scotland Office Minister and leaders from civil society.
Read ACEVO CEO Jane Ide’s comment on the launch and find out more about ACEVOs role in the development of the Covenant.
There are a series of supporting measures to help implement the Covenant, some of which were announced at the Covenant launch and some of which are published in the supporting documents. The work to put into practice some of the implementation measures is yet to start in earnest and will need sustained commitment.
The government took the opportunity to make a few other programme announcements at the launch and in the lead up to the launch, to demonstrate its commitment to a renewed sense of partnership ushered in by the Civil Society Covenant, all of which are the product of long-standing influence and engagement by civil society leaders and their organisations. In case you missed them, they are summarised below.
There is much, much more work to be done to put into action the ambitions expressed to date and civil society leaders and their voices are needed, as ever, to drive and shape the crucially important next steps.
Measures to support implementation of the Civil Society Covenant
Joint Civil Society Covenant Council
The Joint Civil Society Covenant Council is central to the delivery of the Covenant. It will set the direction and provide strategic oversight for implementation. It will have cross-sector membership including senior civil society leaders and senior representatives from government departments. The makeup of the Joint Civil Society Council is yet to be announced.
The Joint Council will also play a vital role in managing a rolling programme of Task and Finish Groups. Two groups initially being established are:
- The Local Implementation Task and Finish Group, focusing on the application of the Covenant at the local level, aiming to drive forward place-based partnership working.
- The Commissioning Task and Finish Group, which will aim to open possibilities for more collaborative, impactful commissioning relationships between civil society and government, within the existing legislative and regulatory framework.
Illustrative document
The illustrative document provides examples of what effective implementation of the Covenant might look like in practice and ‘warning signs’ to indicate where progress has stalled. This guidance will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary to reflect changing needs and best practices. Feedback from both civil society and government stakeholders will be actively sought and incorporated.
Local Covenant Partnerships programme
A Local Covenant Partnerships programme will be steered by DCMS to help see through the aims of the Covenant at the local level. The programme will support civil society organisations to work collaboratively and in innovative ways with local authorities and public service providers, to deliver services that tackle local policy priorities and better meet the needs of their communities. This support will be delivered in England, targeted at those places across the country that need it most and will deliver new locally led Covenant agreements.
Civil society forum with HM Treasury
This stems from HMT’s commitment to working in partnership with civil society. This new forum aims to enable structured dialogue and engagement between civil society representatives, HMT Ministers and senior officials. The make of the forum is yet to be announced.
Cabinet Office grants and contract templates
The Grants and Commercial Function in the Cabinet Office will review policies and guidance related to their model grant and service contract templates, to ensure that they are clear and consistent with the principles of the Covenant. Action to update guidance and templates will be completed in due course.
Exchange and learning programme
A programme of mutual exchange and learning between government departments and civil society will be started, with the aim to build understanding of roles and responsibilities and the sharing of skills and expertise across sectors, including through secondments. Each central government department will be responsible for running its own secondment programme.
Other recent government announcements in support of partnership working with the impact economy and civil society
Better Futures Fund
The £500m Better Futures Fund aims to break down barriers to opportunity for up to 200,000 vulnerable children and young people. It will boost pupil achievement and could fund programmes to reduce reoffending or provide specialist workers for children struggling with exclusion, mental health or crime. Better Futures Fund will run for ten years, with plans to raise another £500m from local government, social investors and philanthropists on top of government’s funding.
Diagnosis Connect
Patients with long-term conditions will be able to access charities and support services through the NHS app at the point of diagnosis, offering “comfort and support” to people and linking them directly to expert charities. Diagnosis Connect is designed to complement, not replace, their usual NHS care and recognises the vital role that civil society plays in helping the health of the nation.
Drive Project expansion
The Home Office announced a £53m investment over 4 years to expand the Drive Project to increase the safety of victim-survivors of domestic abuse, in all communities, by putting the focus on the perpetrators.
16- and 17-year-olds given the right to vote
To modernise UK democracy, 16 and 17 year olds will be able to vote in the next general election and voter ID will be extended to include bank cards to help more people exercise their democratic right. This will bring UK-wide elections in line with Scotland and Wales.
To learn more about the Covenant’s programme of work from gov.uk, visit Civil Society Covenant: programme. For guidance on putting the Covenant into practice, visit Civil Society Covenant: tools.