Big Society 'failing to capture the public's imagination'

5 Oct 10
The public have not taken to the government’s flagship Big Society policy, a poll has shown today.

By Jaimie Kaffash

5 October 2010

The public have not taken to the government’s flagship Big Society policy, a poll has shown today.

The Ipsos Mori survey, carried out for the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, shows that 55% of people do not know what the Big Society means. Almost the same proportion – 54% – think that it is a good idea in principle but won’t work in practice.

Conservative voters tended to be supportive – with 34% having a more positive view of the party as a result of the Big Society, compared with 4% having a negative view. Labour supporters were the opposite, with 37% having a more negative view of the Tory party compared with 5% having a more positive view. Liberal Democrat voters were split, with 28% viewing it positively compared with 22% viewing it negatively.

Richard Kemp, chair of the Local Government Association Liberal Democrat group, told Public Finance that Big Society ideas would be accepted by voters of all parties but the packaging of the policy was putting people off.

‘If you ignore the language, much of it is the same as the LibDems’ “community policies”. So we are comfortable with the concept and direction,’ he said.

‘We would find the language strange and we are not as optimistic as the Big Society advocates are about the number of people who will get involved.’

He added that there were elements of the Labour tradition of neighbourhood developments, prevalent in the New Deal for Communities initiative by the previous government.

‘Most voters don’t respond to titles like this,’ he said. ‘They respond to actions.’

RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor said: ‘Our poll shows that people broadly accept the idea we need to give back more to our local community. It also points to there being a gap between, on the one hand, people’s support of the idea and their willingness to step forward themselves and, on the other, their support for devolving power and their intolerance of “postcode lotteries”.

‘The third finding is that unless politicians are talking about the Big Society constantly, it soon slips from public imagination. Recognition of the idea seems to have fallen in the past few months.’

Last month, Public Finance reported on a lack of faith in the Big Society concept among LibDem ministers and civil servants.

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