More questions than answers on the Big Society

By John Kelly.
Published on the VCOSS Voice on 14 August 2012.
http://vcoss.org.au/blog/more-questions-than-answers-on-the-big-society/

The ABC’s Q&A last night featured a lively discussion about, amongst other issues, the role of the Big Society reforms in the UK and explored some of their implications for social and community services in Australia. One of the ‘Big Society’s’  principal architects, Phillip Blond, who is in Australia to advise Opposition Leader Tony Abbott about the agenda, was a panelist – as was ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie. The program threw up some interesting discussion about how best to meet the needs of vulnerable people – and you can watch it online or read the transcript here – but some of the deeper questions about this significant social policy framework remain unanswered.

Phillip Blond talked about what drove him to first articulate the ideas behind the ‘Big Society’:

‘My politics about what the ‘big society’ is about is restoring our society, ending social isolation and recapitalising the poor and, indeed, recapitalising the middle class and creating an economy that works for everybody and a society where people aren’t abandoned and left alone.’

These are noble intentions and point to a central truth in most public policy debates – generally everyone wants what is best for societies and communities. The differences lie in their interpretations around how to do that. Big Society thinking says that reducing the role of government and the state in the provision of services will give people and communities more control over the decisions that affect them. The concern though of many people is that this is code for funding cuts and the redirection of contracting for services to the private sector.

Here is some background and links to news and views about Big Society reforms:

The Big Society was launched in 2010 in the UK amid some controversy and many of its early  proponents are no longer supportive. It has seen the UK Government contract out programs and services that were once provided by government departments or community organisations to for-profit corporations. It has also put an emphasis on volunteering as a means of building community engagement and involvement.

In Australia, local conservative leaders have shown interest, which is why Phillip Blond is currently visiting, as well as to speak this evening in Adelaide at a forum for The Australian Centre for Social Impact.

The local criticisms of the ‘Big Society’ agenda centre around the potential for the dismantling of the Australian social welfare sector and redirecting resources to the private sector.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the UK has recently completed two reports that document the changes that have occurred under the Big Society thinking and the impacts on civil society organisations, including voluntary and community sector organisations, and the people and communities they work with.

James Whelan at the Centre for Policy Development has published and in-depth analysis of the UK experience and its implications for Australia: Big Society | How the UK Government is Dismantling the State and What it Means for Australia and has written an article on his findings for the next edition of VCOSS’s magazine Insight, to be published in early September.

See also this early piece we published in Insight: What is the ‘Big Society’ and what does it mean for the community sector, in Britain and beyond.