Black Southwest Network in partnership with The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA), Southwest Forum and Voice4Change England recently hosted a training on how voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) can use public law and the Compact in their work. NAVCA focused on Public Law while Voice4Change England spoke on the Compact.
NAVCA wants VCOs to understand the place and importance of Public Law and Compact and use that knowledge to challenge unfair and unlawful decisions made by public bodies. NAVCA stressed that this training was about gaining knowledge to empower and build relationship with public authorities.
The joint training provided a link between the Compact and Public Law as they are closely related. Both organisations provide free advice services on Public Law and the Compact to VCOs around the country and can be accessed through NAVCA’s and Voice4Change England’s websites.
Public Law is a set of legal rules built up over the year through judicial review and work done by legal professionals. These laws look at way public bodies discharge duties and use their powers.
In private law the court decides who is right and who must pay. This is due to the fact the law is written down in statuette and only the parties concerned can be involved in the case.
Public law are the rules that dictate the behaviour of public bodies when they are delivering services. In public law the court looks at the behaviour of public bodies and intervenes to correct any infractions that occur. If the public body is found to be at fault that body must go and take the decision lawfully. You can win or lose in this realm as well, but even if you win the remedies the court hands down are discretionary. In some cases, even if the court finds in your favour they can still not offer a solution.
Public law applies to any bodies delivering government function. Essentially, if the body is authorised by an Act of Parliament or carrying out a government function then it is a public body. It can become complicated identifying public bodies so seeking advice would be useful.
Government bodies must take into account Statuary Codes of Practice when making decisions, but these are just a guide. Public bodies at the local level write their own guidances and it is these documents that VCOs can use to bring a case against a public body that organisation(s) feel have not met their duties.
The Compact is one such guidance. The Compact is an agreement between Government (all departments) and civil society organisations (CSOs). It’s purpose is to strengthen the partnership between government and CSOs. The National Compact is between all those bodies under government and all those bodies under CSO. All local councils in England have their own versions of the Compact.
The Compact is designed to work for the betterment of communities and individuals who live in England. The current Compact is a short document that outlines the commitments and outcomes of Government and CSOs. The 5 outcomes are:
1) A strong, diverse and independent civil society
2) Effective and transparent design and development of policies, programmes and public services
3) Responsive and high-quality programmes and services
4) Clear arrangements for managing changes to programmes and services
5) An equal and fair society
There is an overlap between Compact and Pubic Law – it is voluntary in status and not legally binding. However, this does not mean Government can ignore the commitments but the Compact is just a moral agreement. Many of the commitments are underpinned by public law principles so one can use the Public Law forum to address issues that are outlined in the Compact. A breach of Compact could be a breach of Equalities Legislation, which can be taken up in Public Law.
With the Government signing up to Compact it has created the intent of following through. Therefore, non-adherence and non-compliance could be a breach of Public Law on those grounds.
For equality groups the Compact has 5 commitments:
1) Requirement to understand specific needs
2) Requirement to carry out impact assessments
3) Recognition that single group funding can promote cohesion
4) Alignment with Equality Act 2010
5) Requirement to ensure social, environmental and economic values for part of the design and delivery of policies, programmes and services
From 2012-13 all governmental departments will be required to include a statement of how they are implementing the commitments of the Compact in their business plans. With this move the Compact is being seen as a living document – both local and national Compacts. VCOs can use the Compact as guide to develop good relationships with funding bodies and to challenge bad practice, resolve disputes and develop good practice.
The best case study to illustrate the ways a VCO challenged a local authority ruling that would disproportionately affect its members was the Southall Black Sisters Case in Ealing, London.
For more information and/or advice on either Public Law or the Compact please contact NAVCA, Voice4Change England, or NCVO Compact Voice.
Glad to hear the training went well. It’s so important in these very challenging times that we understand and use all the tools available to us to influence. I think as there are less central targets and ‘indicators’ the law (and perhaps to a lesser extent the Compact) will be come more important as ways to make sure that decisions are made fairly and with the involvement of marginalised groups. The Southall Black Sisters case referred to above is truly inspirational and I’d recommend everyone reads up on it.