14/12/11

By Andrew Holt

Sector groups are in broad agreement with the Public Administration Select Committee report published today, which suggests the Prime Minister's Big Society vision is doomed to failure unless a dedicated minister is appointed to help end confusion and get smaller charities involved.

The Committee report said the Government had failed to explain the project properly or remove serious barriers to its success.

It calls for a single Big Society Minister with a cross-cutting brief, to drive through the Big Society agenda and an impact assessment, applied to every Government policy, statutory instrument, and new Bill, which asks the simple question: “what substantively will this do to build social capital, people power, and social entrepreneurs?”

The report warns that without this the Big Society agenda will fail.

PASC chairman, Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, said that without a "comprehensive and coherent change programme" in Whitehall, reforms would be "defeated by inertia".

Eighteen months after the coalition came to power aiming to provide a new approach in the role of charity and community provision of services there was still "public confusion", the Committee said.

It said: "Without a coherent plan, the Government has so far been unable to communicate effectively to the public what the Big Society project means in terms of practical policies."

The Committee said this led to an impression the entire policy was "made solely on the basis of anecdotes or single examples" which should be countered by a clear statement of intent.

Worse, it said many of the groups supposed to be leading the drive were confused and had "serious reservations" about the way the policy was being implemented, the report concluded.

The process of contracting the provision of public services remained skewed in favour of larger, more commercial providers with established tendering skills.

That was, said to the report, because small groups did not fit the "siloed mentality of Whitehall departments" which risked private firms dominating the provision of services - and the failure of the Big Society.

Many were also at risk of being killed off altogether by public spending cuts the report said, with Big Society Capital (the one time Bank), though welcome, came too late to address the "funding gap".

ACEVO: report confirms what we all knew
Responding to the publication of PASC's report on Big Society to which Sir Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO gave oral evidence, Sir Stephen Bubb said: "This cross party report by MPs confirms what we all knew: that ill-advised cuts to the voluntary sector risk undermining the Big Society.

"The Government has issued clear guidance to local authorities on this, and we expect them to monitor how that guidance is followed very closely - otherwise the Prime Minister's vision risks remaining no more than that.

"But there are some good ideas in the report, for instance those around VAT, and we hope Government will pursue them."

NCVO: Big changes needed
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said: "Delivering the Big Society requires big changes at the heart of Government and across our communities – this report highlights there are still major challenges to be overcome.

"The report rightly emphasises that while the Government has outlined some encouraging aspirations in relation to the Big Society, it needs to work with those in the voluntary and community sector to translate these into concrete and accessible opportunities. Creating a culture of social action cannot be done without the public’s buy-in.

"The vision behind the Big Society agenda remains one that we share. It has the potential to deliver better decision making and more responsive public services.

"However, while there are likely to be a number of potential opportunities in the longer-term, it is impossible to separate out the “Big Society” agenda from the challenging economic environment in which we are all currently operating.

"The report also highlights the unintended consequences of the Government’s Public Service Reform Agenda – the Work Programme shows that many smaller, more innovative, more local providers are being driven out. In tough times, Government must make it easier and not harder to gain access to these new opportunities.

"Voluntary organisations of all shapes and sizes have value and expertise to offer, and they should be able to get involved in delivering public services in the most appropriate way for their organisation, ensuring that service users get the best possible support."

NAVCA: support for little society
NAVCA also submitted evidence to the committee. Kevin Curley, chief executive of NAVCA, said: “I really appreciated the opportunity give evidence to the committee and try to explain what was needed to support local voluntary action. I am gratified that the committee have listened to my evidence and have come out so strongly with recommendations to help the ‘little society’.

“They have understood the problems local charities and voluntary organisations face with the commissioning agenda, particularly with the work programme.

"This report supports the arguments NAVCA has been making for the last 18 months. If the Big Society is to succeed the government must act in support of ‘little society’. That means commissioning policies need to help local organisations not just the big nationals.”

Unite: It is down to the cuts
The reason the Prime Minister’s Big Society is floundering, said Unite, the largest union in the country, is because there is not enough money for it to function.

Unite, which has 60,000 members in the not-for-profit sector, said that the need for a ‘big name, big hitting’ minister to speak up for the voluntary sector and secure the necessary funding in the Whitehall battles was essential.

Unite said that the reason that the voluntary sector was struggling, was because of the £4.4bn that the coalition has withdrawn from the sector since May 2010.

Unite national officer, Sally Kosky said: "The key to the crisis facing the not-for-profit sector is the dramatic haemorrhaging of financial support due to the Chancellor, George Osborne’s austerity programme, coupled with the lack of a minister with real clout to fight the charities’ corner in the corridors of Westminster and Whitehall.

"The report by the Public Administration Select Committee has confirmed what we already knew - that the Big Society is a vacuous idea, that lacks clarity.

"This policy has been used to sell a disastrous campaign of severe austerity on the public sector, charities and community organisations, which has resulted in vicious attacks on the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

"David Cameron’s continual relaunching of the Big Society – apparently, we are on the fourth such exercise – is a tribute to the Prime Minister’s reliance on rhetoric rather than substance."

Labour: ministers are out of touch
Reacting to the report, Gareth Thomas MP, Labour’s shadow minister for Civil Society said: “This devastating report confirms that Ministers are out of touch with the problems charities and community groups up and down the UK are facing.

"The Committee’s concerns about the lack of understanding of the scale of problems facing the voluntary sector and the absence of effective leadership to tackle these problems show how little this Tory-led Government understand just how much their cuts are hitting communities.”

Cabinet Office: huge amount already achieved
The case for the defence in response to the PASC report came from a Cabinet Office spokesperson, who said: “We all want a bigger, stronger society where people get involved and do their bit.

"This isn't new - there are already many people right across Britain taking responsibility and making our communities better places to live. What is new is that this Government is making it easier for people to do more: giving people power to improve public services, putting communities in control, and supporting people to help others.

“A huge amount has already been achieved, led by Nick Hurd our Office for Civil Society Minister, over the last 18 months. Programmes such as Community Organisers, Community First and National Citizen Service will help stimulate more social action by bringing people together in the communities they live in to solve problems and make the most of opportunities and assets.

“And there is a clear plan of how Government will support this. The Localism Bill gives power back to local communities, while the Open Public Services White Paper will empower individuals by giving them choice over services and empower neighbourhoods to take greater control over local services. In addition the Cabinet Office business plan sets out a clear set of objectives for the Office for Civil Society.”

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