Big Society and local action: opportunities and threats in the new landscape Liam Hughes, National Adviser for Healthy Communities 7 th April 2011

Big Society and Local Action The new landscape Big Society? Why is it so important? (How) will it work? Big society and local government Some comments From the toolbox

Questions…and answers? Do you understand the public service changes and are you happy with them? Are you aware of Big Society and where it fits in? What will it mean in practice? What should be the balance between the state, business and civil society? Would you choose America or Scandinavia as your public service model?

The new landscape: “The best of times and the worst of times” Fiscal crisis and reduced state spending Rebalancing the state, business and civil society No more micro-management! The Toyota Way – “lean and productive”! Changing culture and behaviour: - re-moralising society - personal and community responsibility - the “Active Society”

“Does my society look big in this?” Big Society is rooted in civil society, not the big state, and not big business : -Public service reform: transformation! -Civil society and social action: mobilisation of the intermediate organisations! - Localism: horizontal self-management! -Capacities, assets and social capital -Mending the “broken society”

The Concept Everyone can have a role in developing the Big Society….

3 Key Strands: 3 Techniques: Public service redesign Social Action Community empowerment Decentralisation and localism Transparency and information Finance

Some ambitions “A new generation of community organisers” “Every adult involved in a neighbourhood group” “Community-run public services” “Social enterprise and worker co-operatives” “Corporate social responsibility and philanthropy” “Big Society Network” “Big Society Bank”

Big Society Minister for decentralisation (Greg Clarke MP) and Minister for Civil Society (Nick Hurd MP) Big Society vanguard areas (3/4 still standing) “Community First” Fund NHS and Social Enterprises 39 Pathfinder Mutuals – eg, Swindon, Lambeth, London Partnership…

Big Society and Local Government “The BS cloak of invisibility” over local councils Councillors as local champions and community leaders Councils as the obstacle to local change Fault lines between public service reform and community activation – timing is all! Commissioning, or “playing at shops”? “Any willing provider” – so long as it is big?

Some comments “BS is a fig leaf for cuts” “We are doing it anyway, and our infrastructure is being cut!” “It offers new ways of organising from the grassroots” “BS reminds us of our lost political traditions” “Communities will not improve unless the wider social and economic environment improves” “Sounds like CDCs all over again” “We have only noticed community now it has gone!”

Toolbox (1) Some good examples Coin Street, Lambeth Cat Zero in Hull Trident and the Royds, Bradford Mid-Surrey and Sandwell Care Mid-Devon PC Social Enterprise Bromley-by-Bow Centre Stroud Common Wealth CLT London Citizens Foundation Trusts

Toolbox (2) Some lessons from history Pre-war political traditions: Guild Socialism – Cole and Laski Distributism - Belloc and Chesterton Catholic Social Teaching Mutuals and co-operatives Farming wholesale unions

Toolbox (3) Some more recent writers New Economics Foundation (2011) “10 Questions about Big Society” Saul Alinsky (1972) Rules for Radicals Amitai Etzioni (1974) “The Active Society”; (1996) “Community and Morality in a Democratic Society” Jesse Norman(2010) “The Big Society” Philip Blond (2010) “Red Tory” Maurice Glasman (2010) “Blue Labour” Jon Cruddas “Raising the dead” (New Statesman 4 th April 2011) Austen Ivereigh (2010) Faithful Citizens John McKnight and Peter Block (2010) “The Abundant Community”; John Kretzmann and John Mc Knight (2005) “Discovering Community Power” Bill Jordan(2010) “Why the Third Way Failed” Adrian Little(2002) “The Politics of Community” Bauman Z (2001) “ Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World” Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein(2008) “Nudge” A. Tversky and D. Kahneman (1979) “Prospect Theory”

Toolbox (4) Behavioural Economics and Marketing Thaler and Sunstein – “libertarian paternalism” (designing choice environments to make positive choices easier) Alan R Andreason, Gerard Hastings, Jeff French – social marketing and behaviour change Tversky and Kehneman – “hedonic value and prospect theory”: we fear loss more than we value gain!

Contacts Healthy Communities Team Liam Hughes, National Adviser