Derbyshire

The Derbyshire Public Service Compact was established in 2007 to enable public service professionals to work together to address issues of common concern relating to training and recruitment. The Compact has been instrumental in ensuring that all member organisations made a formal commitment to workforce development (i.e. signing the Skills Pledge), increasing the number of Apprentices working in the public sector and facilitating partnership arrangements to develop collaborative approaches to basic skills support for sector employees. Support for the Compact was funded by the LSC until March 2010. The work to develop the skills, knowledge and qualifications base of those working in public service goes on.

Since April 2010 the Compact has operated as a self-sustaining ongoing project. Funding has been secured from a variety of sources to ensure that the Compact continues to benefit from external support for its activities. These sources include: (i) one-off sponsorship arrangements; (ii) the introduction of a Compact 'member organisation' subscription scheme and (iii) charging delegates a small fee to attend good practice events. Hence there is an opportunity for agencies and employers to support the continuation of the Compact through sponsoring of events, by providing a venue and hospitaility for an event or by becoming a member organisation.

Current Compact work is focused on providing support for public service organisations to survive and prosper in a very austere environment. The Compact staged good practice events in April and June 2011 to adress this agenda and these were well attended and well received.  Although the Compact is now making the staging of good practice events the cornerstone of its activities the Steering Group continues to meet and direct the work of the Compact. New members of the Steering Group are welcome and it is a chance to get involved. You can so so by contacting the Chair Jackie Hewlett Davies via jackie.hewlett-davies2@nhs.net to find out more about any aspect of Compact work and receive regular communications about Compact activity and/or to explore the possibility of making a contribution to support the Compact you can contact the Compact facilitator Chris Donkin via chris@donkinitex.co.uk