§ Ms LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to promote the principles of the Compact between the Government and the Voluntary Sector in Wales to other public bodies. [68692]
§ Mr. MichaelI have today written to the Leaders of local authorities, to the Chairs of Health Authorities and Trusts and to the Chairs of NDPBs in Wales drawing their attention to the Compact between Government and the Voluntary Sector in Wales which I launched in November at the annual conference of the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
The Compact is an agreement about the ways in which Government and the voluntary sector will work together for mutual benefit. It paves the way for the future and is intended to form the basis for the National Assembly's Voluntary Sector Scheme. The Compact is based on the principles of integrity, trust and mutual respect. While the agreement is between Central Government and the voluntary sector, I believe that these principles are equally applicable to relationships between other public bodies and the voluntary sector. I am very pleased that the Welsh Local Government Association has responded very positively indeed. I have agreed with the Association and the Wales Council for Voluntary action on a target of having a local compact in place for every part of Wales by September.
I believe that similar compacts, agreed between each public body in Wales and the voluntary organisations in its field of activity or geographical area will be a powerful way to recognise and improve their relationships.
I will therefore wish to see all other public bodies in Wales meeting the same target as that agreed with the Welsh Local Government Association.
In future this will become the responsibility of the National Assembly.