News Release - DSC reacts to launch of Civil Society Covenant

A long-awaited agreement between the UK government and civil society organisations was launched today by the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy MP, at an event in London. The charity Directory of Social Change responded to a consultation on the development of the Civil Society Covenant last Autumn, and its Chief Executive, Debra Allcock Tyler attended the launch event.

The Covenant includes high level principles for how charities and government can best work together as part of developing ‘a new model of partnership between civil society and government’.

Commenting on the launch today, Debra Allcock Tyler said: “Charity leaders have been working for months to influence the development of the Covenant, and the version launched today includes many important commitments and principles. It clearly sets out the independence of civil society organisations and their right to campaign and influence government policy ‘without fear of reprisal’. There are also important commitments about diversity, equality and inclusion, for government, but also for civil society organisations.

We now need to take some time to analyse the final content and think about how it can be a stepping stone to a better relationship which delivers for the people we serve, which really is the whole point of any of this. There’s also much more work to do to ensure that the principles are abided by and our sector is fully plugged into the machinery for government policy-making and major decisions in the future, including locally. We need to see action and resources put towards it, not just words on the page”.

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For more information please contact Jay Kennedy, Directory of Social Change, by email ([email protected]) or phone (07989 187 537). 

Notes to editors:

• The Civil Society Covenant has been published here: Civil Society Covenant – GOV.UK
• DSC responded to the Autumn consultation on the Covenant, which you can read more about here: Directory of Social Change – Let’s make the most of a civil society covenant
• Founded in 1974, the Directory of Social Change (DSC) is a national charity which supports an independent voluntary sector through campaigning, training and publications. DSC is the largest supplier of information and training to the voluntary sector, and its work helps tens of thousands of organisations every year achieve their aims. Learn more at dsc.org.uk