Deepening the relationship between Civil Society and Government
A draft response from the Better Way to the consultation on a Civil Society Covenant Framework
Background
In October 2024 the Prime Minister launched a consultation on a draft framework for a new Covenant between government and civil society, as set out here. The draft framework proposes four ‘high level principles’, drawn up by the Department for Culture Media and Sport together with NCVO and ACEVO, as follows:
Recognition: to ensure a strong and independent civil society
Partnership: to ensure effective service delivery and policy making, and shared learning of best practices
Participation: to ensure people and communities can be heard and make a difference
Transparency: to ensure civil society and government have the information needed to best serve people and communities
The Better Way network will submit a response to the consultation, and the following document is a DRAFT which will be discussed at a meeting of Better Way members with Stephanie Peacock MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on Monday 2nd December 2.00-3.30pm. Details of this meeting and a booking form can be found here.
If you would like to feed in any comments about the following draft Better Way response please contact Will Nicholson (willnicholson@betterway.network). We are particularly keen to hear about case studies and examples of best practice that support our thinking in these areas. We also encourage you to submit any individual responses via the Covenant consultation.
DRAFT BETTER WAY RESPONSE
Re-setting the relationship between Government and Civil Society: towards a Covenant of Service
Founded in 2016, the Better Way is an independent network that brings together over 1,400 people with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, across civil society, government and other sectors, operating at both national and local levels.
This paper sets out our ideas for a new ‘Covenant of Service’ between government and civil society.
This has been informed by discussions and deliberations within the network both recently and over many years.
1. The opportunity - a Covenant founded on a shared notion of service
We agree that there is an opportunity to reset the relationship between Government and Civil Society, at all levels (national, regional and local).
Not least because we have a Prime Minister who has pledged to build a ‘government of service’ and who has also said that ‘service must listen to people far beyond the walls of the state and empower them to make our country better’ [speech to 2024 Labour conference].
It is this particular notion of service - putting the interests of citizens above that of personal or institutional self-interest, and at the same time empowering people to take positive action in their own right - which unites the most progressive elements of the public sector and of civil society alike, and which should be at the heart of the new covenant.
If we are to seize this opportunity, and build a ‘Covenant of Service’, we can take account of and learn from previous attempts to improve the relationship between the sectors..
But we also need to recognise that the numerous enquiries and policy documents and other initiatives that have tried to address this question over many years have had less impact than hoped for.
So, to make a difference this time, we mustn’t simply rehash the ‘same old thinking’. We need to be bold, and tackle some underlying issues.
2. So, what gets in the way of a better relationship between the sectors?
Better Way discussions have pointed to various fundamental difficulties:
There is a big difference in executive power and financial and other resources, which makes the relationship unequal and peripheral.
The financial relationships (notably public service contracting) can distort behaviours on both sides, breeding frustration and mistrust.
The relationships are often instrumental and controlling (‘we will enter into a partnership with you provided that you agree to do what we want’).
While it is not possible to eradicate these difficulties altogether, we are confident that it is possible to make very significant progress in a positive direction.
In particular we believe Better Way thinking and practice can provide a useful conceptual framework, with guiding principles and a behavioural model, and we also believe that insights and examples from the network can provide the necessary inspiration and encouragement.
3. Getting the conceptual framework right: a set of core principles and a mindset shift
While we are respectful of the intentions set out in the draft framework prepared by DCMS, NCVO and ACEVO, we don’t think this as currently conceived will produce a significant enough change.
We believe that we need to be more ambitious, and aim for a progressive alliance capable of uniting government and civil society around a shared agenda of ‘service’ - one which not only helps to improve public services, build stronger communities but also brings about a more equitable and just society.
But in order to do so, we need to break from the inefficient and ineffective ‘new public management’ models which have dominated the relationships between the sectors in recent decades.
Instead, we believe that the following Better Way core principles should sit firmly at the heart of the new covenant:
Prevention is better than cure.
Building on strengths is better than focusing on weaknesses.
Relationships are better than transactions.
Collaboration is better than competition.
Mass participation is better than centralised power.
Local is better than national.
Principles are better than targets.
Changing ourselves is better than demanding change from others.
These have been developed and refined over the last eight years, and we know that they resonate deeply with a great many people. They apply with equal force to the work of Civil Society and to the work of the public sector. They could, it seems to us, provide the basis of an agreed framework which could energise and renew relationships.
We also believe that there is a need for a mindset shift, on both sides, government and civil society alike. And the key elements of that shift are summarised in the following Better Way behaviour change model:
As this model indicates, the mindset shift would include a commitment to the following:
Putting relationships first: often relationship building is seen as incidental to the real work of delivering change - in fact it is foundational, everything else flows from it.
Sharing and building power: controlling from the centre is rarely the best way to make things happen - letting go as much as possible and liberating others can achieve far more.
Joining forces: there is a big difference between partnerships where all sides are trying to extract maximum benefit for their own agenda, and ‘joining forces’ where efforts are united in service of a common agenda.
Listening to each other: often the sectors don’t listen well, not least because one or both parties have largely made up their minds beforehand. The best insights and impetus for action often come from listening without an agenda, especially where those with direct experience of the problems being addressed are in the room.
We would like to see a Covenant of Service setting out and encouraging this behavioural shift. Without that, any principles and good intentions will fail to translate into real and sustained change.
4. Future-proofing the Covenant
Re-setting the relationship, embedding the Covenant principles deeply, and implementing them in day-to-day practice, will not be easy and will require patient and careful work on all sides. The following insights from Better Way discussions are likely to prove helpful, not only in resetting the relationships in a constructive way, but also sustaining them, and future-proofing them against inevitable setbacks.
Find common cause and a shared vision. The term Covenant implies a promise, and a long-term commitment to that promise. Both sides need first and foremost to discover common cause, a shared vision and a set of shared objectives that we can work together on, and respect the distinctive contribution that different sectors can make. These may include complex long-term goals (e.g. reforming social care, tackling climate change, reducing health inequalities, improving opportunities for young people) where solutions require a concerted approach.
Assume the best not the worst. Negative stereotypes are likely to become embedded and self-reinforcing. Starting with positive assumptions is more likely to build trust, creativity and relationships that can endure setbacks.
Go where the energy is. Work with people with energy and imagination, who are willing to listen, share, change themselves. Where they lead, others may follow.
Liberate front-line leadership. Put in place small, cross-sector interdisciplinary teams with freedoms to do the right thing. That is likely to generate some quick wins and grow confidence to do more together.
Don’t give up on each other. There will be setbacks and disappointments along the way. But if the foundations are strong enough, with relationships which can accommodate honest disagreement, the Covenant is more likely to endure.
Learn from doing and be comfortable with failure. Civil Society is particularly adept at testing and learning. Embedding a culture of creativity, having a go and learning from our mistakes will create a progressive relationship.
5. Examples that can inspire and encourage the changes that are needed
It is important, we believe, to recognise that we are not starting from scratch, and that there is much already out there that we can build on. Here are a few illustrative examples from the Better Way network:
Poverty Truth Commissions bring people with direct experience of poverty into the same room as leaders from the public sector and civil society. They do so over a sustained period, to build mutual understanding and trust, and find better ways to tackle poverty. A note of a Better Way discussion is here.
Citizens Assemblies can generate fresh and often bolder responses to entrenched and complex problems. And at the same time make a contribution to tackling the democratic deficit. But they need to be done well, and some ideas from Better Way members for making them successful are set out here.
Liberating the Method. Small teams from across sectors, given the freedom to do things differently, can be remarkably effective in tackling embedded social problems, while at the same time reducing the cost to the public purse, as Mark Smith from Gateshead Council describes here.
Local Area Coordination is an approach adopted by local authorities who are looking to shift the paradigm from one of public management and controlling resource towards one of co-production and community investment. They work with communities to appoint a Local Area Coordinator for each locality of 10,000 or so people. The Coordinator then becomes a useful resource to that community working with individuals, families and groups to help them identify and achieve their vision of a good life, as Nick Sinclair from Community Catalysts describes here.
Time for Kids is a cross-sector initiative initiated by Cate Newnes-Smith from Youth Focus Surrey and drawing on Better way thinking, which brings together key agencies from the council, police, health services, schools, charities and others, to listen to children and young people and find fresh ways to improve their lives, as described here. And Cate shares her reflections on what makes for good multi-agency collaboration here.
Healthy Communities Together saw local people and groups joining forces with local services and the acute end of the NHS to bring about transformational change, as described in an article by Clare Wightman from Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire here.
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have been set up across England to achieve a more ‘joined up’ service across health and social care - and in doing so have been exploring ways to improve engagement and partnership with their local communities. As Samira Ben Omar explains here, we need to “fundamentally rethink our relationships, and do much more to create the conditions for those in the communities we serve to play a central part in bringing about sustainable transformation in addressing inequalities in health and care.” In 2023-2024 NHS England commissioned the Better Way to act as a learning partner with 16 ICBs, and the report and case-study interviews from that exercise can be found here.
6. Some quick wins
It will be important to put in place some early actions that can signal the intent. Here are some ideas for this:
A nationwide programme of reciprocal secondments between civil society leaders and senior government officials.
Creating the right conditions for genuine dialogue through local collaboration partnerships across sectors to break down barriers and bring out greater impact for communities. This could include supporting early adopters of “covenant of service” thinking in a selection of localities around the country - to bring about what Lara Rufus Fayemi describes as ‘people powered places’.
Co-develop a theory of change for the Covenant from the outset to clearly define the shared aims and the outcomes we are seeking to achieve and to be able to monitor progress.
Incorporate the Covenant into the next government Spending Review to demonstrate commitment to delivering its aims and objectives
7. A long term, iterative, learning approach to the Covenant
We would like to see the Covenant conceived of as (at minimum) a 20-year plan, spanning multiple Governments, and therefore requiring cross-party support, to achieve a deep and enduring re-set of the relationships.
But this should not mean that the Covenant of Service becomes a static document. While the core ideas should remain valid, it will be necessary to find ways to refresh the commitments periodically, and to take account of changing circumstances. So a series of learning, reflection and review points along the way will be essential.
Draft: 25th November 2024
