Comments on: Just how Big is the Big Society?

By: Strategy Unit RIP | Blog

Strategy Unit RIP | Blog — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:31:19 +0000

[...] the Office for Civil Society – to drive forward the three Big Society themes of public service reform, empowering communities and social action. [...]

By: Drew H Gill

Drew H Gill — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:52:44 +0000

In reply to Adrian re leadership role of government and getting narrative right around the Spending Review on October 20th.

Not narrative, pure political spin my friend. All the Big Society talk is a waste of time as politicians crave power and will never really give it away to people in communities; there is too much at stake.

Wake up to the BIG LIE all of you!

By: Adrian Brown

Adrian Brown — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:03:01 +0000

I'm sure your frustration that the quality of transparency and local consultation is not yet matching the Big Society vision will be a common complaint over the next few months. As ever, reality will lag the rhetoric by some margin. The risk for the government is that this gap, along with dissonance created by the cuts agenda leads to public cynicism and derails the Big Society before it's had a chance to get off the ground. As David Wilcox points out in this excellent post, the Big Society needs to start generating its own momentum but I can't help feeling that government has a leadership role to play as well. For example, getting the narrative right around the Spending Review on October 20th will be crucial.

By: Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley

Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:20:46 +0000

Whilst the full implications for policy in practice about the Big society are being worked out it may be pertinent to hereby demonstrate the current capacity of the systems given to the public ie in this jungle that is the charity world to help. Thus for example I can tell there’s something not happening as far as I’m concerned as a citizen regarding this so-called pensions commission involving John Hutton; If it’s true that Mr. Hutton is determined that this “work should be conducted openly and transparently and that our conclusions will be underpinned with a comprehensive analysis and evidence-base.” then citizens need to know how and where we can likewise, kindly submit our valuable contributions to the dialogue, please.

Similarly how can citizens respond to the very important schools transport consultation when it’s so hard to find ie not apparently available even on one’s otherwise very fancy looking county council web-site?

Lord Adonis (in some other place) once remarked that change is coming. Happy to see him so well placed to help! Can somebody please tell him it’s here.

By: Betapolitics

Betapolitics — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:19:10 +0000

For me one of main things about Big Society is reconnecting people with what happens in their life. Where the state says: “We deal with that, we are the equipped experts” people will let go of any responsibility for it. This leads to a vicious circle of the state being required to do more and more, while citizens feel like doing less and less.

Government and its agencies should always be thinking about how to do things ‘together’ with people, rather than doing things ‘to’ people. I appreciate that in practice this way of operating may consume a lot of time and has the potential to be frustrating but the outcomes reached should more than compensate for that. I have always remembered what a missionary priest once told me” “On your own you go fast, but its only together that you go far”.