Wiltshire Council and VCSE Sector Sign Landmark Partnership Framework

Left to right – Cllr Mel Jacob, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement, and Corporate Services – Wiltshire Council; Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader – Wiltshire Council, Lynn Gibson, CEO – Community First, Neil Cotton, Director of Partnerships – Wessex Community Action. Photo credit: Wiltshire Council.

Wiltshire Council Press Release (6th May 2026)

Wiltshire Council has signed a new Partnership Framework with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, marking a significant milestone in how the council and the sector work together to support Wiltshire’s communities.

The framework is the result of three years of close collaboration, co‑production and engagement between Wiltshire Council and VCSE partners across the county. It fulfils the commitment set out in the council’s Our Wiltshire Plan to implement a new working agreement with the voluntary and community sector and to champion partnership working across public, voluntary and community services.

The framework was signed last week at an event held at County Hall, Trowbridge. The signatories on behalf of the council were Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of Wiltshire Council and Cllr Mel Jacob, Deputy Leader of Wiltshire Council and Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement, and Corporate Services. The signatories on behalf of the VCSE were Lynn Gibson, CEO of Community First and Neil Cotton, Director of Partnerships at Wessex Community Action. A range of other organisations were represented at the event including Age UK Wiltshire, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “Those in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector do a vital and diverse job in supporting residents and communities, and I am proud to work alongside them.

“As a partnership, we have worked hard and collaborated positively to develop this framework, which is so much more than just words on a document – it represents a collective commitment to work together to support our communities. We have also put governance arrangements in place that will hold us to account and help keep us on track to ensure we achieve what we have set out to do.”

Cllr Mel Jacob, Deputy Leader of Wiltshire Council and Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement, and Corporate Services, said: “As a council, we work with organisations across the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector every single day, and it is a partnership we do not take for granted. That’s why we want to strengthen the foundations already in place to ensure this partnership continues to thrive and deliver for our communities, and this new framework provides us with the best opportunity to do so.”

Lynn Gibson, CEO at Community First, said: “Community First is delighted to support this framework which sets out a range of new and important ways of working together. It includes the ambition to strengthen commissioning opportunities, effective partnership and embedding champion roles within the council to support communication and continue to develop stronger integrated delivery and equal partnership.”

Neil Cotton, Director of Partnerships at Wessex Community Action, said: “Wessex Community Action is pleased to support this framework, developed through constructive and collaborative partnership. We are proud to have been involved and look forward to continuing to work together to achieve positive, practical outcomes for our communities in areas such as commissioning, sector sustainability, and volunteering.”

VCSE organisations help prevent, delay and reduce demand on statutory services, deliver innovative and community‑led solutions, and play a critical role in strengthening resilience at a local level. The new framework is designed to further strengthen this strategic relationship and provide a foundation for future collaboration.

The framework has been developed in line with the Local Government Association’s toolkit for partnership working with the VCSE sector and adopts the values and behaviours of the 2025 Civil Society Covenant. Work began in 2023 and was fully co‑produced by
Wiltshire Council officers and VCSE representatives.

Extensive engagement shaped the final agreement, including workshops, conferences, surveys, focus groups and formal governance discussions.

The signed agreement comprises three documents:

• The Partnership Framework – a two‑page document setting out a shared commitment statement, principles, vision, aims and five joint priority areas.
• Appendix A: Evidence Base – outlining the case for change, consultation findings and the rationale behind the agreed priorities.
• Appendix B: Rolling Action Plan – identifying three tangible, jointly delivered actions aligned to the priorities, with a strong focus on improving existing ways of working and recognising capacity and resource constraints across both sectors.

The framework and appendices have been endorsed by the VCSE Leadership Alliance and formally signed on behalf of Wiltshire Council.

The full document can be found on the Wiltshire Council website.