Warrington to participate in research commissioned by the Compact Commission
Grant Thornton has been commissioned by the Compact Commission to undertake a piece of work that looks at the benefits brought by applying Compact principles to the way we work. Warrington have agreed to take part and will be visited by the Consultants from Grant Thornton for two days on Wednesday 3rd March and Thursday 4th March 2010.
During their visit the Consulants will be meeting with key staff involved with the National Indicators, the Local Compact, local commissioning, the Third Sector and the Warrington Partnership. The visit is being co-ordinated by the Third Sector Partnership Team. If you would like more information or would like to get involved please contact Stephanie Saxon on (01925) 248462 or email: szsaxon@warrington.gov.uk.
Below is a full description and purpose of the project that Grant Thornton have been given by the Compact Commission.
The national indicators that Grant Thornton wants to look at with Warrington are those which don't have much input from the Third Sector nationally but which have been adopted by Warrington and chosen for this reason.
The national indicators they have chosen include:
• Serious acquisitive crime
• Local concerns and crime issues
• Re-offending by prolific and other priority offenders
• Hospital admissions for alcohol related harm
• Participation of young people in positive activities
• Conception in under 18s
• Substance abuse by young people
• Stopping smoking
• Planning to adapt to climate change
• Reuse, recycling and composting of household waste
Purpose of the work
The Compact Commission want to develop a business case to encourage and help more local authorities see the economic and social benefits of adopting and embedding the Compact principles. For example, what is the economic and social benefit for Local Authorities in having 3 year funding or payment in advance? Why is this work important? All Local Authorities have a Local Compact. However, there are inconsistencies in the application of Compact principles within and between some Local Authorities.
The Compact Commission has previously undertaken research that demonstrates compact principles improve partnership working, but have never before looked at measuring the economic and social benefit . This innovative work aims to do that and will help to increase the implementation of Compact principles at a local level.
How do we plan to do this?
Grant Thornton UK (economic researchers) have been appointed to carry out this piece of work. The Compact Commission strongly believe that showing other local authorities the economic and social benefits to applying the Compact principles in the delivery of their National Indicators will drive home a powerful message and help to increase its implementation.
The Compact Commission and Grant Thornton have identified 20 National Indicators that they hope will provide an excellent pool for identifying all the economic and social benefits when applying Compact principles.
Important points to consider
This work will focus on and promote good practice. The Compact Commission are only interested in what is working well. This is not a name and shame exercise; the Commission does not work in that way. The Commission are only interested in where and how Compact principles have been applied and the impact of that application and in assessing overall performance of the local area. This is about the Compact.
As with most research, Gant Thornton will want to speak to those relevant individuals connected with National Indicators but that will be all. There will also be a workshop with local Third Sector representatives and discussions with those involved in the Local Compact, Local Strategic Partnership and Commissioning.
What are the advantages in taking part?
This piece of work will help Warrington to understand and recognise the economic and social benefit that is achieved from applying your Local Compact principles. This can be used to promote Compact successes locally and increase implementation.
This is an opportunity to raise the profile Warrington locally, regionally and nationally and to contribute to an innovative and important piece of research that will help shape future Compact implementation.
What is the end product?
The Compact Commission will produce an accessible executive summary with key headline messages. They will also produce a full report which will be promoted nationally and will also use the information from the research to produce an electronic tool kit. This will allow local authorities to calculate economic and social benefits when applying Compact principles themselves. This is a high profile piece of work for the Compact Commission. We will be working hard with partner agencies, for examples, Local Government Association to heavily promote this work.