Members were reminded that the Compact was an agreement between statutory authorities and the voluntary and community sector (VCS). The Compact principles were set out in the National Compact which was refreshed in 2010 by the Coalition Government. There was also an Essex Wide Compact to which a number of local authorities had signed up and some local district/borough/city authorities had developed their own local Compacts. The draft Brentwood Compact set out the principles of how the local statutory bodies would  work with the local voluntary and community sector. 

Cllr Russell  MOVED and Cllr Ms Sanders SECONDED the recommendations in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

1.              Sign up to the Brentwood Compact on behalf of Brentwood Borough Council and adhere to the principles as set out in Appendix A.

2.              Sign up to the Essex Compact on behalf of Brentwood Borough Council.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

The Brentwood Compact would give a clear sense of how the statutory and voluntary sector worked together and what to expect of each other. There would be increased benefit to the local communities with both sectors working together to meet local needs and building stronger partnership arrangements. It would also enable both sectors to better manage disputes or disagreements that might arise by clearly outlining expectations.