Futures Forum: W(h)ither "localism"?
LETTER: Localism concept receives last rites - West Sussex Gazette
Nuclear waste plans make mockery of localism MP says - LocalGov
Last month, two reports came out questioning the value of the government's 'Big Society' initiatives:
Big Society is a sham that’s hurting the small charities sector, says report
Charities that once worked alongside government officials now answer to private companies that have taken over functions once run by the state
ANDY MCSMITH - Sunday 29 June 2014
The Big Society that David Cameron once described as his “passion” is a “sham”, which is hurting small charities increasingly having to work with powerful corporations in running services, campaigners have said.
Two new reports paint a grim picture of the fate of local voluntary groups in the market being created by the contracting out of public services. Where charities once worked alongside government officials, many now have to answer to private companies that have taken over functions once run by the state.
The National Coalition of Independent Action claims two studies found the farming out of public services is effectively turning some charities into sub-contractors for private firms.
Its founder Andy Benson argued the policy of encouraging competition had made charities “more self-interested and less likely to work collectively”. He claimed volunteers were less willing to speak up where they encounter mismanagement, in case they lose a contract. In one instance, a voluntary sector worker who criticised a council for not following its own policy on domestic violence was told by a council official: “Do you want funding for next year? Then I suggest you shut up.”
Mr Benson said: “Despite protestations by the Government that it is interested in small-scale activity, which is the essence of the Big Society, the small amounts of money that could make all the difference are drying up at a hugely alarming rate. The Big Society is a sham. It’s a slogan.”
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Over the past few years we have supported a bigger, stronger society. More people are volunteering. Charities have more powers and say over public services, and we are seeing more community organisers. On top of this, more than £600m has been set aside for Big Society Capital, the first social investment fund of its kind in the world.”
Big Society is a sham that’s hurting the small charities sector, says report - UK Politics - UK - The Independent
There has been further doubt cast on the value of the idea in practice:
Exclusive: David Cameron’s Big Society in tatters as charity watchdog launches investigation into claims of Government funding misuse
The organisation was given at least £2.5 million of National Lottery funding and public-sector grants despite having no record of charitable activity
The Big Society that David Cameron once described as his “passion” is a “sham”, which is hurting small charities increasingly having to work with powerful corporations in running services, campaigners have said.
Two new reports paint a grim picture of the fate of local voluntary groups in the market being created by the contracting out of public services. Where charities once worked alongside government officials, many now have to answer to private companies that have taken over functions once run by the state.
The National Coalition of Independent Action claims two studies found the farming out of public services is effectively turning some charities into sub-contractors for private firms.
Its founder Andy Benson argued the policy of encouraging competition had made charities “more self-interested and less likely to work collectively”. He claimed volunteers were less willing to speak up where they encounter mismanagement, in case they lose a contract. In one instance, a voluntary sector worker who criticised a council for not following its own policy on domestic violence was told by a council official: “Do you want funding for next year? Then I suggest you shut up.”
Mr Benson said: “Despite protestations by the Government that it is interested in small-scale activity, which is the essence of the Big Society, the small amounts of money that could make all the difference are drying up at a hugely alarming rate. The Big Society is a sham. It’s a slogan.”
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Over the past few years we have supported a bigger, stronger society. More people are volunteering. Charities have more powers and say over public services, and we are seeing more community organisers. On top of this, more than £600m has been set aside for Big Society Capital, the first social investment fund of its kind in the world.”
Big Society is a sham that’s hurting the small charities sector, says report - UK Politics - UK - The Independent
There has been further doubt cast on the value of the idea in practice:
Exclusive: David Cameron’s Big Society in tatters as charity watchdog launches investigation into claims of Government funding misuse
The organisation was given at least £2.5 million of National Lottery funding and public-sector grants despite having no record of charitable activity
OLIVER WRIGHT POLITICAL EDITOR - Saturday 26 July 2014
David Cameron’s flagship Big Society Network is being investigated by the Charity Commission over allegations that it misused government funding and made inappropriate payments to its directors – including a Tory donor.
The organisation, which was launched by the Prime Minister in 2010, was given at least £2.5 million of National Lottery funding and public-sector grants despite having no record of charitable activity.
The Independent has learnt that it has now been wound up, having used much of the money on projects that came nowhere near delivering on their promised objectives.
Two senior figures on government grant awarding bodies have also made allegations that they were pressured into handing over money to the Big Society Network despite severe reservations about the viability of the projects they were being asked to support.
Liam Black, a former trustee of Nesta, which was then a public body sponsored by the Department for Business, said Nesta had been “forced” to give grants that totalled £480,000 to the Big Society Network in 2010 without a competitive pitch. He described it as a “scandalous waste of money”.
Another senior figure involved in the decision to award £299,800 from the Cabinet Office to the organisation said the funding request had initially been turned down. “When we did the analysis we turned them down because the bid did not stack up,” they said. “But we were told to go back and change the criteria to make it work.”...
An examination of the Big Society Network projects, funded by the Government and the lottery, reveal a marked discrepancy between what they claimed they would achieve and what they did.
They included:
> A project called “Your Square Mile” whose purpose was to encourage and enable local people to improve their community. It was awarded £830,000 by the Big Lottery Fund – despite officials assessing the application as “weak” in three out of the six criteria. In February 2012 the project had attracted just 64 signed-up groups compared with the one million predicted in the funding application.
> A project called Get In – to tackle childhood obesity through sport. In April 2012 it was awarded a grant of £299,800 from the Cabinet Office despite officials concluding it was unlikely to meet its stated objectives. They were told to change their selection criteria and approve the grant. The project was never even launched.
> Britain’s Personal Best, which aimed to build on the Olympic Games by encouraging people to excel in athletic, educational or creative challenges. Given £997,960 in April 2013 by the Big Lottery Fund, it claimed it would sign up 120,000 people to take on challenges in their community – but was wound up within months after failing to meet all the milestones the Big Lottery Fund had set.
A long-running investigation by Civil Society News into Big Society Network funding has also discovered that the organisation was given statutory grants totalling £480,000 in 2010 by Nesta – which was then an arms-length body of the Department of Business – without a competitive pitch being held.
Exclusive: David Cameron’s Big Society in tatters as charity watchdog launches investigation into claims of Government funding misuse - UK Politics - UK - The Independent
David Cameron's 'Big Society' scheme under investigation by Charity Commission | Mail Online
Nandy demands PM inquiry into Big Society Network grants - Civil Sociey
There hasn't been much recent activity on the official 'Big Society' website:
Big Society Network | unleashing social energy
In fact, there has been considerable criticism of the notion for some time now:
Approaching the two-year anniversary of the Coalition, commentators have noted the lack of big society thinking across the policies of the Government. The lack of employee-owned mutuals and social enterprises in public sector reforms and the changes to tax relief on philanthropic donations in the 2012 Budget have been especially noted. This has been seen by some as vindication of the view that the big society was little more than a cover for cuts. Some other previously more positive commentators have seen the first two years of the Coalition as a missed opportunity for the big society agenda.[36]
The Big Society envisions a greater role for faith-based organisations in the provision of welfare services. Research has cast doubt on the likelihood of this being successful.[37]
Big Society - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charity and the Coalition: Whatever Happened to the Big Society? | Voluntary Action History Society
.
.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment