What is "The Big Society"?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Huh?

I think I've been out the country too long. What is this "Big Society" of which Cameron is talking about?

[Darren]

Absolutely no idea.

[Rob McCow]

The basic idea is that Britain becomes a tax haven for the super-rich, while the poor look after themselves without help from the Government.

[Andrew Curnow]

My pretty shaky understanding is that it's something about local people running local 'charitable' things like Youth clubs, etc. There's some sketchy reference to a 'Big Society Bank' which apparently will have some government funding (where's all the money coming from David?!) but also will hope to encourage local people to invest.

However, yesterday on Breakfast Time one of the ministers involved seemed to be saying that under the Big Society's remit might come situations where, for example, the Council want to shut down your local library, but a local group decides to get together and run it under the 'Big Society' charter...

...So I think the short answer is, nobody really knows. And if it's really a way to try and get people to fork out to pay for things that the Council/Government are removing funding from then it's a pretty whacky, not to mention offensive, idea.

But I may be completely wrong!!

[Andrew Curnow]

According to its website...

"The Big Society Network exists to generate, develop and showcase new ideas to help people come together to do good things. An untapped social energy exists in our villages, towns and cities that if unleashed could help us build a bigger, better and happier country. We will work in partnership to deliver innovative solutions and share what we learn with you"

I've now read that five times, but my eyes keep bouncing off it and it totally fails to mean anything by the time it reaches my brain.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I thought Mrs Thatcher didn't believe in society? Heck I thought Tories believed generally in "everyone out for themselves ..."

[Perry Vale]

The Big Society is a society that gets BIG spending cuts...

[Paul Monk]

Thats quote from the website is a typical politician's description of something. Says plenty but tells you nothing.

[Jon Masters]

It's privatisation by the back door, and done on the cheap. Unlike Thatcher's Tories who had the family silver to sell off, Cameron-Clegg only have the bric-a-brac stuffed in a cardboard box. But by conning people into believing that they can themselves contribute, the government can put less money in.

The basic pattern I believe is

• government cut back money to local government and tell them to make savings
• local government cut back on some services
• local people bemoan that the services they like have been cut
• government say "why don't you step in and run the same service as a volunteer organisation / charity / etc ? We'll give you money to run it (but less than we clawed back from the local government in the first place) "
• services are now being provided by other people out of local government control (so go back to step 1 !!)

All fine and dandy - except the local services you like are instead being run by volunteers rather than paid or qualified workers, and there is no back-up if you need (a) extra resources or (b) someone to take responsibility if it all goes t!t$ up. Potentially you could have a library run by only part-time volunteer staff, which only opened for 2 hours a day and which didn't buy any new books - but you've still got a library so don't go moaning to Cameron about it

[Captain Tancredi]

To be perhaps a little less jaded, I think the idea is about enabling and encouraging communities to run services which the statutory authorities couldn't provide economically. A village or suburban library could actually work that way- get a team of volunteers together to open a few days a week, a long lease at a nominal rent from the council on a building which would otherwise be empty and have fundraising events for new stock.

I was reading an article the other day which was pointing out that steam railways have been doing this for years. 'Tornado', the new build steam engine which was completed a couple of years ago, was funded entirely by private subscriptions. All the preserved railways in Britain started out as volunteer groups and although most of them formed limited companies for tax reasons, some of them now run 20-25 mile lengths of railway.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

It would be nice if people were encouraged to start all these little community organistation on top of everything that was already there, perhaps even ultimitely replacing some of them if they work out well and saving money in the long run. Rather than, say, completely destroying all public services and forcing people to do everything themselves, whether they like it or not, or are even competently able.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Given the mess that banks made of the economy - might be better if the CEOs were replaced with unpaid volunteers.

Oh wait - they're providing a service, so you pay for them, don't you?

Do you think some Tory hawk went "look at the Oxfam business model ... and how much they save by not paying anyone".

It does sound like a society where some people are overpaid for what they do, and other people who are paid now, should be paid nothing for doing the same job. The Tories are back baby!

[Jason Thompson]

It's a good idea let down by bad execution and timing, is what it is.

The idea of getting communities to actually be communities (rather than just a bunch of people who hapen to live in the same area, as it often seems to be now) and run local services for each other is a good one. Unfortunately, encouraging it immediately after or during savage cuts that are removing existing local services and basically saying 'run it yourselves or it goes' produces a very negative reaction. It's one thing to offer encouragement to groups of people to pull together and provide a service they never had, and quite another to expect those people to replace a service they've had taken away, especially since some members of the community will have been being paid for providing those services they are now expected to provide for free.

[Dino]

Do you remember the good old days when John Major called Tony Blair a "snake -oil salesman"?
They talk of Big Societies, I smell snake oil...