Starting to stock the Good/Big Society DIY store

Recent blog posts by Nat (now Baron) Wei, unpaid adviser to the Big Society programme, give further clues to government thinking about the way that local services should evolve, with more support for groups at neighbourhood level. (Earlier posts here). I’ve been pulling together some tools and links that may be useful – including reports of a couple of sessions using a neighbourhood media version of the SocialbySocial game. I played the one above last week in Holland. (read more...)

Designing the Big (Civil) Society – it’s DIY time

Summary: there’s now a fair amount in the open about The Big Society, but still many questions about just What Is It Going to Be. The answer is – the Government isn’t going to tell us the whole story. We are going to have to do it ourselves. So who is interested in Designing for Civil Society?

Detail: We now have a Minister for Civil Society in Nick Hurd, the launch of the Big Society programme at No 10, and a lot of online comment. Here’s my bookmarks, and previous posts on this blog.

The main points of the programme reflect the pre-election vision presented by Mr Cameron: more powers for local government and communities; encouraging volunteering; National Citizen Service; supporting mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises; funds from a Big Society Bank; training for local community organisers.

The comment includes warnings from existing organisations … don’t start without us; don’t forget the old lessons of community; a plea to bring capitalism into the mix; plus some healthy scepticism. We are getting daily roundups from Patrick Butler at Guardian Society Daily.

We have become rather conditioned by the central policy-making and programming of the previous government to expect a blueprint for what happens next. We’ve had one from the Respublica think tank, promoting the idea of local social hublets. (read more...)

Incubating the Big Society in local social lablets

Today in the Guardian Simon Jenkins says the Conservative’s central manifesto idea – the Big Society – has been moved off the Westminster political stage, and only the new secretary for communities and local government, Eric Pickles, can (read more...)

Redesigning Civil Society, collaboratively

The Guardian’s Societydaily roundup quotes my remark that “It’s obvious we are going to see big cuts in local services whoever is
elected, so we had better get thinking” So here we go.

Patrick Butler writes in the Guardian:

I have some sympathy with the signatories of this letter in “defence of (read more...)

Citizens UK stage a pre-election “fourth debate”

I’ve just caught up with the news that Citizens UK will be staging a “fourth debate” next Monday May 3 with David Cameron, Nick Clegg and “a senior Labour representative” addressing their 2500-strong Assembly. This will focus on six issues in a People’s Manifesto. Citizens UK say:

Although they won’t debate with each other on stage, it will be the last time before the polls that all three leaders address the nation from the same stage.

And unlike the prime ministerial televised debates which millions tuned into but which involved almost nobody, at the Citizens UK assembly the candidates will be responding to an agenda which reflects the priorities of ordinary people.

There will be music, powerful testimonies and political negotiation. This is a people’s assembly – of the sort many thought no longer existed.

Three days before the nation goes to the polls, the leaders will be quizzed on their commitments to specific policy pledges – on wages, housing, immigration and the recognition of civil society.

(read more...)

Defending civil society against Big Society commentary

Although the Conservative Big Society ideas got some early support from social activists, this was swallowed up in the general political knock-about, and also challenged by those doubting how far people have time and enthusiasm for volunteering and other forms of involvement. This rather muted the appeal of the Big Society Network, who aim to appeal across all interests, whoever is elected. It also made it difficult to have a non-partisan discussion about the benefits of greater citizen involvement. It’s obvious we are going to see big cuts in local services whoever is elected, so we had better get thinking – as I’ve just reported on this event.

The response of Big Society Network co-founder Paul Twivy and others has been to invite social entrepreneurs and other supporters of the  broader ideals for civil society to sign a letter for publication this weekend.  (read more...)

Voluntary sector ‘ultras’ gear up for post election campaigning

I’m interested to see that the National Coalition for Independent Action is taking on its first member of staff (details below). Just another voluntary sector post? Not really, because Coalition members have been campaigning for some years against the Government contract and funding culture which, they believe, has drawn many nonprofit organisations into a close and unhealthy relationship with the State, where their independence is compromised by tight targets and monitoring.

All rather relevant in the context of Conservative proposals for The Big Society, with its “radical revolt against the statist approach of the Big Government that always knows best”. Hmmm, any similarity of concern? Here’s NCIA, who acknowledge they are sometimes known as the “hypercritical ultras of the voluntary sector“: (read more...)

Big Society Network founders share their passion for social action

The Big Society Network has been quiet since its launch on the same day as the Conservative Big Society plans, which then became the centrepiece of the Tory manifesto. The Network aims to be non-partisan, despite sharing a name, so it must be difficult to figure out how to promote their plans for a 15 million-strong mutual society to support social action wihout getting too caught up in the election fray. (background on the Network here)

The Network founders, Nat Wei and Paul Twivy, have now taken some first steps towards wider engagement with posts on the Network blog about their personal passion for the project. (read more...)

Is the Big Society appealing? Now there’s some stats

The chief executive of Ipsos MORI, Ben Page, is quoted as saying: “I don’t know what the Conservatives’ own polling and focus groups are showing, but our research shows that while people like the idea of the big society they are too busy doing other things to make it happen.

“It is not clear that the public wants to accept Mr Cameron’s invitation for greater involvement and local control”. (read more...)

Making the best of the Big Society debate

After some “whatever happened to the Big Society” comments last week, I think we’ll hear more this week from David Cameron because the Conservatives need some serious “time for a change” narrative to reclaim ground from Lib Dem advances, following Nick Clegg’s Leaders’ Debate performance. It has started with a Big Society versus Big Government speech today, where Cameron says he is going to “redouble the positive” in the election campaign.

“The old top-down, big-government approach has failed in Britain”, he said, adding that even if you still believe in it there isn’t any government money left to try it with: “Gordon spent it all, it’s all gone”.”So we need something different, and that is where our big idea comes in. The idea of building the Big Society, the idea of saying: if you want change, then we have all got to pull together, work together, come together, recognise we’re all in this together, and that’s how you get change.”

(read more...)