Abstract
This paper evaluates the current attempt to develop local ‘compacts’ between local government and the voluntary and community sector, as an example of a relational contracting approach to structuring the evolving relationships between these sectors. It is structured in four parts. The first part charts briefly local government — voluntary sector (LG — VS) relationships in England over the period 1979–2000. It draws examples in particular from experience in the field of area regeneration. The second part introduces the concept of the Voluntary Sector Compact (VSC), and argues that it is central to the approach of the current Labour government to these relationships. It differentiates this approach from that of the previous government, denoted here as the service agency model, and situates it within the meta-paradigm of community governance. The third part explores the implementation of the Compact in England at both the national and local level. The final part draws out key lessons from this for the future of LG — VS relationships in England, situating these within an emerging model of LG — VS relationships.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cabinet Office (1999) Modernising Government (London, HMSO).
M. Clarke & J. Stewart (1998) Community Governance, Community Leadership and the New Labour Government (York, YPS).
B. Colenutt and A. Cutten (1994) ‘Community empowerment in vogue or vain’, Local Economy (9,3) pp. 236–250.
I. Colville, K. Dalton & C. Tomkins (1993) ‘Developing and understanding cultural change in HM Customs and Excise: there is more to dancing than knowing the Next Steps’, Public Administration (71,4) pp. 549–566.
Commission on the Future of the Voluntary Sector (1996) Meeting the Challenge of Change (London, NCVO).
G. Craig, M. Taylor, C. Szanto, & M. Wilkinson (1999) Developing Local Compacts (York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation).
H. Davis & B. Walker (1997) ‘Trust based relationships in local government contracting’, Public Money & Management (17,4) pp. 47–54.
Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions [DETR] (1998a) Community-Based Regeneration Initiatives: A Working Paper (London, DETR).
DETR (1998b) Housing and Regeneration. A Statement by the Deputy Prime Minister (London, DETR).
DETR (1998c) Modern Local Government (London, DETR).
P. DiMaggio & W. Powell (1988) ‘The iron cage revisited’, in C. Milofsky, ed., Community Organizations (New York, Oxford University Press) pp. 77–99.
P. Falconer & K. McLaughlin (2000) ‘Public — private partnerships and the ‘New Labour’ government in Britain’, in S. Osborne, ed., Public — Private Partnerships in International Perspective (London, Routledge) pp. 120–133.
C. Finn (1996) ‘Utilizing stakeholder strategies for positive collaborative outcomes’, in C. Huxham, ed., Creating Collaborative Advantage (London, Sage).
L. Gastor & N. Deakin (1998) ‘Local government and the voluntary sector: who needs whom — why and what for’, Local Governance (24,3) pp. 169–194.
R. Gutch (1990) Partners or Agents? (London, NCVO).
H M Treasury (2002) The Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Service Delivery. A Cross Cutting Review (London, Home Office).
S. Hall, M. Beazley, M. Burfitt, C. Collinge, P. Lee, P. Loftman, B. Nevin & A. Srbljanin (1996) The Single Regeneration Budget: A Review of the Challenge Funding Round II (Birmingham, School of Public Policy).
S. Hall & J. Mawson (1999) Challenge Funding, Contracts and Area Regeneration (Bristol, Policy Press).
S. Hall, B. Nevin, M. Beazeley, A. Burfitt, P. Lee, P. Loftman & A. Srbljanin (1998) Competition Partnership and Regeneration (University of Birmingham, School of Public Policy).
M. Harris & C. Rochester, eds., (2000) Voluntary Agencies (London, Macmillan).
J. Harrow (2001) ‘Capacity building as a public management goal: myth, magic or main chance?’, Public Management (3, 2) [in press].
Home Office (1990) Efficiency Scrutiny of Government Funding of the Voluntary Sector (London, HMSO).
Home Office (1998) Home Office Annual Report 1998–99 (London, HMSO).
Home Office/Working Group on Government Relations [WGGR] (2000) Minutes of the Annual Meeting between Government and Representatives of the Voluntary and Community Sector to Review the Operation and Development of the Compact (London, Home Office).
C. Hood (1991) ‘A public management for all seasons?’, Public Administration (6969) pp. 3–19.
C. Huxham & S. Vangen (1996) ‘Managing inter-organizational relationships’, in S. Osborne, ed., Managing in the Voluntary Sector (London, International Thomson Business Press) pp. 202–21.
C. Huxham & S. Vangen (2000) ‘What makes partnerships work?’, in S. Osborne, ed., op. cit. pp. 293–310.
Independent Healthcare Association/Department of Health [IHA/DoH] (2000) For the Benefit of Patients (London, DoH).
Inter-Departmental Working Group on Resourcing Community Capacity Building (2001) Funding Community Groups (London, Active Community Unit).
G. Jenei & A. Vari (2000) ‘Partnership between local government and the local community in the area of social policy: a Hungarian experience’, in S. Osborne, ed., Public — Private Partnerships. Theory and Practice in International Perspective (London, Routledge) pp. 265–274.
W. Kickert & J. Koppenjan (1997) ‘Public management and network management: an overview’, in W. Kickert, E-H. Klijn & J. Koppenjan, eds., Managing Complex Networks (London, Sage). pp. 35–61.
E-H. Klijn & J. Koppenjan (2000) ‘Public management and policy networks: foundations of a network approach to governance’, Public Management (2,2) pp. 135–158.
Labour Party (1997) Building The Future Together: Labour’s Policies for Partnership Between Government and the Voluntary Sector (London, Labour Party).
S. Leach & D. Wilson (1998) ‘Voluntary groups and local authorities: rethinking the relationship’, Local Government Studies (24,2) pp. 1–18.
Local Government Association [LGA] (1997) A New Commitment for Regeneration (London, LGA).
V. Lowndes & C. Skelcher (1998) ‘Dynamics of multi-organisational partnerships: an analysis of changing modes of governance’, Public Administration (76) pp. 313–333.
M. Mackintosh (1992) ‘Partnership: issues of policy and negotiation’, Local Economy (7,3) pp. 210–224.
M. Mackintosh (2000) ‘Economic cultures and implicit contracts in social care’, Journal of Social Policy (29,1) pp. 1–20.
K. McLaughlin, S. Osborne & E. Ferlie, eds., (2002) The New Public Management. Current Trends and Future Prospects (London, Routledge).
K. McLaughlin & S. Osborne (2000) ‘A one-way street or two-way traffic? Can public — private partnerships impact on the policy-making process?’, in S. Osborne, ed., Public — Private Partnerships in International Perspective (London, Routledge) pp. 324–338.
S. Martin, M. Tricker & T. Bovaird (1990) ‘Rural development programmes in theory and practice’, Regional Studies (24,3) pp. 268–277.
J. Mawson (1995) The Single Regeneration Budget: The Stock-Take (Birmingham, University of Birmingham/Local Authority Association).
V. Murray (1998) ‘Interorganisational collaboration in the nonprofit sector’, International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration (2) pp. 1192–1196.
National Council for Voluntary Organisations [NCVO] (1995) A Missed Opportunity: an Initial Assessment of the 1995 Single Regeneration Budget Approvals and their Impact on Voluntary and Community Organisations (London, NCVO).
National Council for Voluntary Organisations [NCVO] (2000) Compact: Guidance on Monitoring (London, NCVO).
National Regeneration Unit [NRU] (2001) The Vision for Neighbourhood Renewal (London, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions).
S. Osborne (1997) ‘Managing the coordination of social services in the mixed economy of welfare: competition, cooperation or common cause?’, 8 British Journal of Management pp. 317–328.
S. Osborne (1998) ‘Partnerships in local economic development? A bridge too far for the voluntary sector?’, Local Economy (12,4) pp. 290–295.
S. Osborne (2000) ‘Reformulating Wolfenden? The roles and impact of Local Development Agencies in supporting voluntary and community action in the UK’, Local Government Studies (26,4) pp. 23–48.
S. Osborne & N. Flynn (1997) ‘Managing the innovative capacity of voluntary organizations in the provision of public services’, Public Money & Management (17,4) pp. 31–40.
S. Osborne & K. Ross (1999) The Voluntary Sector Compact in the UK: Enabling or Constraining Government — Voluntary Sector Relationships? (paper to the annual ARNOVA conference, Washington DC).
J. Peck and A. Tickell (1994) ‘Too many partners…the future for regeneration partnerships’, Local Economy (9,3) pp. 251–265).
Perri 6 (1997) Holistic Government (London, Demos).
A. Pifer (1967) Quasi Non Governmental Organizations (New York, Carnegie Corporation).
S. Podziba (1998) Social Capital Formation, Public-Building and Public Motivation. The Chelsea Charter Consensus Process (Dayton, Kettering Foundation).
S. Ring & A. Van de Ven (1992) ‘Structuring cooperative relations between organizations’, Strategic Management Journal (13) pp. 483–498.
K. Ross & S. Osborne (1999) ‘Making a reality of community governance. Structuring government — voluntary sector relationships at a local level’, Public Policy & Administration (14,2) pp. 49–61.
H. Russell. (2001) Local Strategic Partnerships, (York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation).
Social Exclusion Unit (1998) Bringing Britain Together (London, HMSO).
Social Services Inspectorate (2000) Towards a Common Cause — ‘a Compact for Care’ (London, Department of Health).
J. Stewart (1996) ‘A dogma of our times: the separation of policy-making and implementation’, Public Money and Management (July-September).
G. Stoker (1997) ‘Public private partnerships and urban governance’, in G. Stoker, ed., Partners in Urban Governance: European and American Experience (London, Macmillan) pp. 1–21.
K. Stowe (1998) ‘Compact on relations between government and the voluntary and community sector in England and Wales’, Public Administration and Development (18,5) pp. 519–522.
R. Sykes & C. Clinton (2000) Compact with the Community. A Survey on Developing Local Compacts (London, LGA).
B. Tilson, J. Mawson, M. Beazely, A. Burfitt, C. Collinge, S. Hall, P. Loftman, B. Nevin and A. Srbljanin (1997) ‘Partnerships for Regeneration: the Single Regeneration Budget Challenge Fund round one’, Local Government Studies (23,1) pp. 1–15.
J. Vickers & G. Yarrow (1988) Privatization. An Economic Analysis (Great Yarmouth, MIT Press).
K. Walsh (1995) Public Services and Market Mechanisms: Competition, Contracting and the New Public Management (London, Macmillan).
R. Waterman & K. Meier (1998) ‘Principal-agent models: an expansion?’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (8,2) pp. 173–202.
D. Wilson & R. Butler (1985) ‘Corporatism in the British voluntary sector’, in W. Streeck & P. Schmitter, eds., Private Interest Government: Beyond Market and State (London, Sage).
Working Group on the Active Community (1999) Giving Time, Getting Involved (London, Home Office).
Working Group on Government Relations [WGGR] (1998) Consultative Document on the Development of a Compact between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector (London, NCVO).
Working Group on Government Relations (2000a) Funding: a Code of Good Practice (London, Working Group on Government Relations).
Working Group on Government Relations (2000b) Progress Report on Development of the Compact and Codes of Good Practice (London, Working Group on Government Relations).
Working Group on Government Relations (2000c) The Compact One Year On — a Voluntary and Community Perspective (London, Working Group on Government Relations).
Working Group on Government Relations Secretariat (2000a) Local Compact Guidelines. Getting Local Relationships Right Together (London, NCVO).
Working Group on Government Relations Secretariat (2000b) Government and Voluntary Sector Move Forward on Compact Codes of Good Practice (Press Release, 9/5/00; with the Home Office and the Cabinet Office).
Working Together for Devon (1999) Developing Partnership between the Public, Voluntary and Community Sectors (Exeter, Devon Community Council/Devon County Council).
York Council for Voluntary Services (1999) A Compact between the NHS and the Voluntary and Community Sector in North Yorkshire and the City of York (York, York CVS).
D. Young (2000) ‘Alternative models of government — nonprofit sector relations: theoretical and international perspectives’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (29,1) pp. 149–172.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Osborne, S.P., McLaughlin, K. Modelling government — voluntary sector relationships: emerging trends and issues. Eur Bus Org Law Rev 4, 383–401 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1566752903003835
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1566752903003835