Keir Starmer has promised that government and civil society will "work side by side to deliver real change" in a speech announcing a new Civil Society Covenant.
The covenant, published this morning, commits to "reset" the relationship between UK government and civil society” by creating "an environment in which civil society is respected, supported and listened to by government, both when working in partnership with civil society and independently, when civil society is holding government to account”.
It delivers on a promise from culture secretary, Lisa Nandy and the prime minister in October to develop the covenant.
In a foreword to the document, Nandy said it is “a new chapter in the relationship between this government and the remarkable civil society organisations that form the backbone of our communities”.
Starmer, speaking at a civil society summit, said the covenant "is about rebalancing power and responsibility".
"Not the top-down approach of the state working alone," he said. "Not the transactional approach of markets left to their own devices. But a new way forward – where government and civil society work side by side to deliver real change."
The high-level principles in the covenant are: partnership and collaboration; participation and inclusion; and transparency and data. They apply to UK government departments, executive agencies and arm's-length bodies; strategic authorities and English local authorities; and wider public sector bodies working with civil society, such as NHS organisations and the criminal justice system.
The covenant, which was co-designed by government and civil society organisations, includes commitments to:
It also commits to collaboration across every department and every mission of government, working at both national and local level across the UK to deliver the “Plan for Change”.
And it says the government will “promote participation and inclusion” by involving people in decisions that affect their lives, ensuring their voices are heard and removing barriers to democratic participation.
On transparency and data, it promises to "strengthen trust through open communication and sharing of information, data and best practice, and by civil society organisations being proactively transparent and accountable for the money they receive".
To deliver on the covenant, a new Joint Civil Society Covenant Council will be created to set direction and provide strategic oversight for its implementation. The council will have cross-sector membership comprising senior leaders from civil society and senior representatives from government departments to provide a key forum for driving progress in the reset of the relationship between government and civil society.
The government will also develop of a programme to build capacity and understanding across the sectors, including encouraging more cross-sector secondments.
The document also says government will report annually on actions to honour the covenant, and on the impact of this partnership with civil society.