The Big Society: Opportunity or Threat

1. The Big Society: Opportunity or Threat Pete Alcock University of Birmingham

2. Labour Government Legacy Third Sector • Partnership • Strategic investment • Political profile Growth in public support – 2008: £13 bn; 36% of charity income (England and Wales, Charities, NCVO Almanac, 2010)

3. Grants and Contracts2000/1 – 2007/8

4. General Election Campaign Consensus – welcome third sector…. • Public service delivery • Community engagement • Compact • Social Investment Bank

5. General Election Campaign Concerns in campaigning by third sector • About impact of recession • About public spending cuts Ambiguity over Conservative’s Big Society agenda

6. Coalition Government – Big Society back… May 18 – PM and DPM ‘Big Society at the heart of public sector reform…’ July 19 – PM Liverpool Big Society speech – ‘my great passion’

7. Office for Civil Society OCS replaces OTS - retains Cabinet Office role • Minister for Cabinet Office – Francis Maude • Minister for Civil Society – Nick Hurd • House of Lords – Baroness Warsi • Big Society advisor – (Lord)Nat Wei

8. Office for Civil Society Dropping of ‘Third Sector’ – “that term has now been abolished”, PM Cabinet Office priorities – • Making it easier to run voluntary organisations • Making it easier for organisations to work with the state • Getting more resources into the sector

9. Building the Big Society Newpolicy agenda for OCS to deliver Big Society • Easier to set-up and run charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations – mutuals taskforce, new Compact • Public sector workers to create employee-owned co-operatives - right to provide, right to challenge

10. Building the Big Society • Remove ‘red tape’ – market prices for public sector contracts (‘level playing field’) – OCS/BIS taskforce • Big Society Bank – from dormant bank accounts (up to £400m) • National Citizens Service for 16 year olds (pilot schemes in summer 2011) • Big Society Day – workplace volunteering (from civil service to civic service)

11. Building the Big Society • Train new generation of 5000 community organisers, to become self-funding • Devolve power to local government – and drive down to neighbourhoods and communities • Four ‘vanguard communities’ – [Liverpool], Windsor and Maidenhead, Sutton, Eden Valley (Cumbria)

12. Building the Big Society But other commitments dropped • Futurebuilders • Capacitybuilders • Commission for the Compact Or cut • OCS Strategic partners

13. Big Society Discourses Big Society website ResPublica support Nat Wei – Coral Reef analogy • sea bed – public services • coral growth – social and private enterprises • fish – citizens and communities

14. Big Society Rhetoric More than Third Sector reform – a legacy to match the ‘welfare state’! • Mending ‘Broken Britain’ • Remixing the Welfare State

15. Mending Broken Britain Community empowerment • What are communities? • Communities can be exclusive • Engagement requires time and resources • Engagement requires skills and knowledge Beware the ‘usual suspects’….

16. Re-mixing the Welfare State Restructuring public services • Cuts in public expenditure (25%) • Private and third sector delivery • Market contracting and surpluses • Floating off worker co-operatives Can third sector replace public provision?

17. Re-mixing the Welfare State Rethinking public services • Co-production • Outcome based commissioning • Total place • Personalisation What does this mean for Commissioners and TSOs?

18. Third Sector Challenges • Change in public contracting • Cuts in public expenditure • Loss of horizontal support • Competition with private sector and third sector organisations • Collaboration, subcontracting, and restructuring

19. Public Sector Challenges • Cuts in service budgets • Competition in commissioning • Partnership and collaboration • Co-production and shift to front line planning • Outcome focused planning

20. Service Delivery Challenges • Market failure • Organisational failure • Loss of third sector unity • Loss of public mandate