Big Society – one year on

Renée Smith Gorringe and Margaret Firth

Policy Managers – Local Intelligence Team (South West)

Office for Civil Society - Cabinet Office

Big Society is...“A country of do-ers and go-getters, where people feel they are in control of their destiny, where they trust those around them, and where they have the power to transform their lives, where nothing will stop them from pursuing their dreams. That’s the culture we need in our economy as much as our society. So is this government about more than cuts? Yes. Is the Big Society some optional extra? No. It holds the key to transforming our economy, our society, our country’s future and that’s why I will keep on championing it and keep on building it, every day that I have the privilege to lead this country”.

David Cameron, 23 May 2011

What’s in it for us?

It’s about improving our quality of life:

• Communities will have a greater say over how services are delivered so that they are more responsive and more tailored to personal needs.

• It will be easier to take action on the causes we care about

• It will be easier and fairer for local businesses and social enterprises to bid for contracts to run local services

What is Big Society??It’s a big idea; a whole approach to government – 3 core strands:

Promoting Social ActionEncouraging and enabling

people to play a more active part in society

Opening upPublic Services

Enable charities, social enterprises, private companies

and employee-owned co-operatives to compete to offer

people high quality services

Empowering Communities

Giving local councils and neighbourhoods more power to take decisions and shape

their area

Terminology…

Localism

Decentralisation

Big Society

Is the ethos…Doing everything at the lowest possible level and only involving central government if absolutely necessary

Is the process…Giving away power to individuals, professionals, communities and local institutions

Is the vision…A society where people, neighbourhoods and communities have more power and responsibility and use it to create better services and outcomes.

The six essential actions for decentralisation

Big Government

Big Society

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/decentralisationguide

Empowering Communities

• Free Schools: - 258 applications of which 40 have been approved to

business case stage and 9 approved to set up in September 2011 or 2012.

• Decentralisation and Localism Bill: – de-ring fence Government Grants from 2011-12. – LAs to publish information on all spending over £500 locally– Planning Reform – neighbourhood Plans

What’s Being Done?

Social Action (1)•National Citizen Service Pilots:

– Young Devon delivering with local delivery partners – NCS pilots across Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, Torbay, Plymouth and Bristol

– Football League (Community) Ltd – Plymouth Argyle and Bournemouth AFC– Catch 22 – Wiltshire– Princes Trust – Gloucestershirewww.direct.gov.uk/nationalcitizensservice or www.facebook.com/ncs

•Community Organisers Programme – 10 Kickstarter Areas:- Cornwall (Penwith Community Development Trust)- Bristol (Barton Hill Settlement)

www.locality.org.uk/projects/community-organisers/

What’s Being Done?

Social Action (2)•Community First Grants

- £30m Neighbourhood Matched Fund Programme - £50m Big Society Endowment Match Challenge

•Giving White Paper – published yesterday

•Supporting a Stronger Civil Society Consultation – OCS is developing a new programme of work to address the support needs of civil society organisations.

•Volunteering – simplification of CRB process

•Big Society Bank - funded with £60m to £100m from dormant bank accounts in England.

What’s Being Done?

Opening up public services (1)

• Community Right to Challenge - allows local VCS to express an interest in running a local authority service, and where accepted bid in subsequent procurement exercise.

• Mutuals: - Mutuals taskforce- Pathfinder Programme – Swindon - Mutuals Support Programme

• Compact – renewed Compact issued on 14th December along with Accountability and Transparency Guide

What’s Being Done?

Opening up public services (2)

•Measuring Social Value and Social Return on Investment- a framework for measuring and accounting for a much broader

concept of value by incorporating social, environmental and economic costs and benefits.

•Commissioning Green Paper – published on 6 December 2010 – Opening Public Services White paper to be published July 2011.

•Resolving Multiple Disadvantage – 10 Local Inclusion Labs - Bristol and Plymouth in the South west– Community of Practice– Materials to support implementation

What’s Being Done?

Local Implementation StrategyA Step Further

Public services

Public sector buildings

Community assets – day care centre

Pubs

Business premises

Volunteers

Charity staff

Private sector staff

Clubs + Social activities

Community Budgets and Local Integrated Services

Big Society Awards

• Created to recognise individuals, groups or organisations that are demonstrating the Big Society in their work or activities.

• The award focuses upon three specific areas:– Promoting social action– Empowering communities– Opening up public services

www.number10.gov.uk/bigsocietyawards/big-society-awards-nomination-form

• Next round closes on 6 August 2011

Local Intelligence Team (LIT)

• To be connectors between Whitehall and local areas

• To provide information and context to local areas

• To provide intelligence, insight and challenge from local areas

• To provide policy / project support and delivery

Local Intelligence Team (LIT)

Keen to hear of projects / activity that provides evidence of:• Citizens taking more control

– Engagement in local leadership• Evidence of new partnerships being struck at local levels

– For example – VCS / LA, VCS / local business– New ways of working together / doing things in different ways

• Public Services being delivered in different ways– LAs out-sourcing to VCS– Communities more involved in commissioning

• Signs of business contributing to the community in new and interesting ways

• Citizens stepping up / local responses• Interested in successes, but also in barriers

Local Intelligence Team (SW), Office of the Civil Society, Cabinet Office

Renée Smith-Gorringe - renee.smith-gorringe@cabinet-office .gsi.gov.uk

Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Swindon, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Plymouth, Torbay and the Isles of Scilly.

Margaret Firth - Margaret.firth@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk

Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth

For more information:

www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

www.communities.gov.uk

www.number10.gov.uk