David Cameron’s favoured concept of a Big Society has been heavily criticised, but it is not too late to for ministers to launch a rescue operation
The government’s Big Society idea seems to the running into the sands – the sands of cynicism; the sands of confusion; the sands of contradiction; and the sands of political disconnect from delivery.
Even Phillip Blond, one of the original creators of the concept and the brand, is questioning whether the government will be able to succeed in creating the Big Society.
What is to be done? I suggest six actions for the government if it is rescue the concept.
- Be clear about what the Big Society embraces and what it does not – over the last year the government has confused several different policy initiatives and branded them the Big Society. This can seem like ministerial laziness or simply poor policy making and bad branding.
- Do not conflate the idea of a smaller state with the Big Society – the state at national and even more at local level has a major role to play in facilitating and supporting most of the elements of the Big Society approach – ultimately the role of the state may indeed change but smaller government and smaller expenditure do not have to be core to a genuine Big Society.
- Ensure that the concept is divorced from public expenditure cuts – the principles on which the Big Society are based are as relevant in times of expenditure growth as much as during a period of cuts.
- Allocate some additional funding to support Big Society initiatives at a local and national level; and stop cutting programmes and funding streams that facilitate and support Big Society activities.
- Seek to build a political consensus – all the major parties are committed to a strong civil society; a greater role for the voluntary, community, third and social enterprise sectors in public service delivery and capacity building; localism and neighbourhood empowerment; and people taking a greater responsibility for themselves, their families and their communities. These form the core elements of what I understand to be the Big Society but the idea has become distorted in a partisan frenzy and because of the confused use of the term by ministers and its use or perceived use as camouflage for cuts.
- Recognise and celebrate activities across the country that exemplify the Big Society - even if they do not use the label.
