The beginnings of the Big Society?

Many people would argue that the Big Society has been around in one form or another for a very long time. While this may be true, there's no doubt that the government's continued emphasis on the ideals of the Big Society - supporting and enabling individuals and communities to drive change - is creating waves in the public and voluntary sectors and beyond. But to be successful the Big Society has to result in changed communities, and by definition this will require some kind of grassroots movement. The government can encourage, cajole and even legislate to its heart's content, but unless `real' people buy in to the Big Society's ideals and take action there will be little chance of realising the change the government wants to see. That's why it was fascinating to attend the imaginatively titled160`Big Society Event' hosted by my local council, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, last month. The idea of the day was to bring the Big Society to life by showcasing some of the initiatives being developed by the council and other organisations in the local area. The Royal Borough has been chosen as a `Vanguard Community' so I was intrigued to find out more about what this might mean in practice! I have two unrelated observations about the day (and bear in mind that I was only there for the first hour or so!). Firstly, a huge range of projects was incorporated under the Big Society umbrella. Everything from participatory budgeting to asking pubs and clubs to pay for next-day cleaning costs were claimed as examples of Big Society projects. This diversity at a local level reflects the deliberately broad definition used by those shaping the policy nationally. The danger is an obvious one: if the public are already unclear160about what the Big Society means, being confronted with a plethora of seemingly unconnected ideas locally may further add to the confusion. This lack of clarity may not matter if the objective is simply to create change, but it could make it difficult for the Big Society to resonate with people in a meaningful way. The other thing that struck me was the considerable challenges for local voluntary sector groups in responding to the opportunities provided by the Big Society. Clearly, the government hopes to encourage160small organisations with sufficient vision and skill to take on delivering services in local areas. But there are many risks for these community organisations as they seek to move towards having a new relationship with the public sector - as providers of services rather than grant recipients. Our recent research for Zurich on the risks facing the public sector160highlighted some of the concerns of the voluntary and community sector about the willingness and capacity of local organisations to make this shift in how they work. So, are we witnessing the real beginnings of the Big Society? Who knows what will be precipitated by local events like the one in Maidenhead, but it's exciting to see the Big Society starting to have a life of its own, albeit only slightly beyond the M25!