Big Society
Renewing civic life and putting citizens at the heart of public
services has been a key goal of public policy for a number of
years, but the coalition Government’s vision for a 'Big
Society' has placed "localism" at the heart of its programme
of government.
The future of local government over the next few years is likey
to be shaped by two forces:
- a drive towards localism and
- the need to cut spending and achieve efficiencies.
From Big Government to Big Society
The Localism Act 2011 sets the
foundations for the Big Society programme, by introducing new
rights and powers for local communities and reforms to the planning
system.
Big Society focuses on three areas
- Reforming public services;
- Empowering communities to come together to address local
issues.
- Bringing about a lasting culture change to support the work of
neighbourhood groups, charities and social enterprises.
The Big Society cuts across a number of government
departments and represents a fundamental shift in local service
delivery and the relationship between people, places and
power.
What does a Big Society looks like?
"The Big Society is a
society with much higher levels of personal, professional, civic
and corporate responsibility. A society where people come together
to solve problems and improve life for themselves and their
communities; a society where the leading force for progress is
social responsibility, not state control."
(Big Society not Big
Government; Building a Big Society Conservative Party policy paper,
April 2010).
Building the Big Society
The Government has stated the ambition is “to put more
power and opportunity into people’s hands”. The main
themes underpinning the ‘Big Society’ are:
- Giving communities more power
- Empowering state, rather than an overpowering state
- Encouraging people to take an active role in their
communities
- Transferring power from central to local government
- Supporting the voluntary and community sector
- Decentralising to the lowest possible level
- Publishing government data
Open Public Services White Paper
Useful Links
Contact
Tel: 01304 872314
E-mail: policy@dover.gov.uk
