Blogs | Big Society in the North

Dec 06

Protest and the big society

I've blogged some thoughts here on the current wave of protests and how they can contribute to our thinking about Big Society/ Our Society.

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Julian Dobson

Aug 05

The Big Society in the North: what next?

It's strange but exciting that something that started as a blog post just a month ago has already taken on a life of its own - and expectations to go with it.

The Big Society in the North forum has attracted 150 members; there are just over 60 members of the Facebook group; and nearly 100 people made the effort to attend a lively meeting last week (blogged about here, and elsewhere). Many others were interested but couldn't make it.

To put that in perspective, that's slightly fewer than attend an average game at Cowdenbeath FC. On the other hand, if you look at the networks represented by those people - including a fair number of national and regional organisations as well as individuals - there are several thousand who are connected one way or another to Big Society in the North.

What's clear is that there is an appetite to debate and discuss Big Society and to do so from an independent perspective. Second, from the discussions last week and on the forum it's obvious there's a mixture of deep suspicion and a desire to engage. Third, there's a passionate belief in the value of the social and community activity that already underpins society, and a concern that issues of social justice, fairness and equality should not be sidelined.

Fourth, there's a realism about the situation we face. I'll post some thoughts on that later. But most people acknowledge the need to find new, better and more cost-effective ways of supporting and encouraging community action.

So what are the next steps? Yesterday I met with the small group who arranged last week's event - Tanwir, Sophie and Emma from CDX; John Popham from Digital 2020; and Paul Webster from Navca.

We don't claim to be a representative group. We are people who see the need to move the discussion about Big Society forward and engage critically but constructively with what's coming out of government and the Big Society Network - and to encourage and generate new ideas ourselves. Below are our thoughts on how to move things forward, and we welcome comment and suggestions.

Step one: an open invitation

Last week's event was open to all and free of charge, but there was some criticism that it didn't represent the groups most likely to be affected by government spending cuts. This is valid: we arranged the event in our own time and relied to a large extent on social media to spread the word. That will continue to be the case as long as we're doing this without a budget.

But we would particularly encourage and welcome others to join in and spread the word among their own networks. I'm thinking especially of black and minority ethnic networks, disability groups, and people in more remote communities who find it difficult to attend events. There will be many others. The forum can be a place where those networks can connect with and support each other and where information can be shared.

Step two: develop the forum

The forum has now reached a stage where we need to start categorising the discussions and interests so people can find what they want easily. Sophie Ballinger, who set it up, will oversee that but as it expands we'll need help with moderation and organisation. Please let us know if this interests you.

We understand that there's a lot of uncertainty about Big Society and a desire to engage in debates about concepts and principles. This is vital, but it's important too that we don't end up turning every discussion into a theoretical debate. So we'd encourage people to keep those discussions in one place and we're looking at how this can best be done.

There is also a growing volume of useful resources on the Big Society and people have been posting links to these in different places. We need to keep these together so people can quickly find what they're looking for, and would encourage users to add to a single list rather than posting resources as new discussions.

Step three: keep it practical

The things that will really make a difference are specific, practical and catalytic actions. We want to encourage innovation and better ways of getting things done. So if you have an idea, please share it on the forum - you might be able to link with others who can help.

Step four: pursue ideas from last week's meeting

Some have already posted notes of their discussions from last week, and there are some still to come.

• One of the 'Big Society but...' groups has put forward two key ideas: keep building links (see step two) and tell the stories of community action. There's also a lively discussion about the use and value of social media here. I'm keen to see the idea of storytelling develop. A lot of that happens already and could be cross-posted on the forum to expand the audience - we cold create a section of the forum for that purpose. And there are a number of people connected with the forum who have been involved in journalism and PR who could use their skills to help others tell their stories. If anyone's interested in coordinating that side of things, let me know.

• Another group was looking at David Wilcox's idea of a 'social apps store' and work on this is progressing. You can see David's update on it here.

• There is an interest in the idea of mapping networks, cuts and opportunities, but more needs to be done on this. It would be good if those with relevant skills and interests could start a separate discussion on the forum. In the meantime, NCVO has created a very useful map of funding cuts - see links here (background) and here (the map).

Step five: more face to face events

We recognise there's a lot of value in face to face events - whether it's just to create a space where people can offload, to share information, or to work on developing ideas. We organised the first meeting in Sheffield because that's where most of the group are and we were offered a venue.

We'd like to hold an event in the northwest, and we're talking to Voluntary Sector Northwest about the possibility of doing something in connection with one of their events; and similarly would like to put something on in the northeast. To do that we need to work with local people or organisations who can offer a suitable venue and help to facilitate the event. As soon as anything is confirmed we'll post details on the forum.

The forum is also a place where people can also advertise their own relevant (non-commercial) events. If you're putting something on and would like one of us to talk about Big Society in the North let us know and we'll see what can be done.

Step six: keep exploring

Above all, we want to encourage and support new ideas. If you have one, share it. If you have a concern - and many have been raised, especially about issues of equality and fairness - tell us what you'd like to do about it and we'll see how the network can support you.

We don't have a blueprint for the Big Society in the North and don't know where this will end up. We recognise there's a need to keep the discussion going, and to explore new ideas and opportunities. If that's something you can relate to and get involved with, please join us.

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Julian Dobson

Jul 28

Explorations in no-man's-land

No-man's-land is a difficult place to be. When you stand up you risk being shot at from all directions. If you get into the trenches on either side you're expected to take part in the shooting.

Nobody owns no-man's-land. It's a muddy and confusing place, hard to find your way around. There's little sense of direction. You could say it's a bit like the Big Society.

It's hardly surprising that many of those who find themselves there are just looking for someone else to explain the lie of the land or tell them where to go. Others might want to go and hide in the nearest crater until someone comes out to rescue them.

Yesterday evening we opened up a space where people could start to explore these murky areas. We invited anyone who wanted to take part in a free event to discuss what a northern view of the Big Society might look like. There was a common feeling that much that the government terms Big Society has been happening for decades and needs to be protected from unthinking spending cuts; and a concern to build new ways of supporting social action.

We also heard from Steve Moore of the Big Society Network, who gave an overview of the thinking that's developing at a national level and stressed his willingness to back new ideas.

At the Big Society in the North event some brave people started to venture into no-man's-land to try to make something of it. We had Alistair Sinclair, who wants to set up community-led support groups for people recovering from substance misuse. There was Kate Welch, who wanted to explore how to build personal and emotional resilience in order to enable people to bounce back from setbacks such as unemployment or homelessness.

Another group considered Simon Cooke's suggestion of building street networks and a 'supermarket street' of small shops as a way of building mutual support. A fourth considered how to take forward David Wilcox's suggestion of a 'social app store' that could help community groups to thrive.

You can read more about these ideas on the Big Society in the North Forum, or put forward your own.

By far the biggest group yesterday, though, were those who weren't sure about the idea of the Big Society at all and wanted to debate what it should be. Some wanted to create a definition they could work. Some talked about the need to tell the stories of the people who are already building community in the north of England, and I think this needs to be a core element of any northern expression of social action that engages with the Big Society idea.

It's essential that the Big Society has critical friends and friendly critics, and that the forum is a place they can use to take forward their concerns. I'm looking forward to seeing how that thinking develops.

The real test of the value of any event, though, is whether or not it allows people to make links and develop ideas. I was encouraged by a range of conversations I heard, both at the event and afterwards, and I'm happy to be involved in further gatherings to enable such conversations to happen.

For me, if just one tenth of the people who attended yesterday come up with ideas or take actions that wouldn't otherwise have happened, it was worthwhile. If it's helped others to crystallise what they think, that's useful. And for those who decide they don't want to be part of these conversations, that's OK - there's no obligation.

If anyone else wants to help develop the forum or has suggestions for future activities, you're more than welcome - contact me or post a discussion. You might find no-man's-land is a safer place than you fear.

• If you want to know more about yesterday's event, there's archived video coveragehere and David Wilcox has done some short clips on YouTube. John Popham has linked to his Radio Sheffield interview and the live blog of the event here.

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Julian Dobson

Jul 26

The Big Society in the North: what about the cuts?

You can’t talk about the key themes of the Big Society - community action, supporting civil society and handing power to local people – without addressing the contradiction at the heart of the coalition government’s policies.

This is that we’re being asked to increase voluntary activity while central and local government removes many of the resources that support such activity. It’s as if David Cameron is trying to jump-start the car while Eric Pickles and George Osborne are removing the wheels.

How do we handle this? Do we turn our back on any kind of involvement and hope that in five years’ time we’ll get a government that’s more enlightened? That isn’t an option for those who are engaged in social action or who benefit from it.

Or do we instead try to cosy up to government in the hope that some of us will be protected if we say the things ministers like to hear and aren’t too strident in our condemnation of actions that are damaging?

My view is that we can’t afford to do either. David Cameron and Francis Maude have pledged their support for voluntary activity and community involvement, and we have to hold them to their word. Some of their actions are damaging the very activity they claim to value. We need to remind them of that at every opportunity.

We need to remember that even if the outcome of the election had been different, charities and community groups would still face funding cuts. Many were already at risklong before the election. More will be now.

But the cuts don’t have to be crude and arbitrary, and they don’t have to be accepted without discussion or argument. Kevin Curley, chief executive of the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, put down some important markers at an event last week and his speech is well worth reading.

Many funding bodies – both in central and local government – are in panic mode at present and they need to be brought back into the world of intelligent decision-making. Not all cuts are necessary and some will end up costing more than they save. Funding organisations – especially local councils, who are supposed to act as champions and leaders of their communities – must be open, show clear leadership and have transparent discussions about where they need to save money and why.

Where does this leave the Big Society, and the idea of the Big Society in the North?

At a national level, there needs to be realism about what can be achieved. The Big Society will not change the world overnight. At the moment the most that can be said is that it is another label for civic action, and it needs to sit within the context of decades of work to build an infrastructure and support for such action. We need to find ways to maintain that support in hard times and innovate to improve and expand what we have. Get the foundations right before you indulge in flights of fancy about turning government on its head.

There’s a message too for the many commentators (like Anna Coote at the new economics foundation) who have criticised the Big Society idea for its failure to focus on social justice and equality. She’s right, but you can’t just wait until we have a different government and try to pick up the pieces; and as we found with the previous government, there’s a gulf between the theoretical framework and what happens on the ground. You have to build with the materials you have.

For the Big Society in the North, it reinforces the need for an independent expression of civil society that is rooted in actions and activists, not in government or political parties. The ‘big society’ idea offers a language that enables us to have conversations that go beyond the old sectoral boundaries of local and central government, the voluntary and community sector, individuals and private businesses. We all have something to offer each other and we need to find ways to do so, fast.

I hope the Big Society in the North provides a chance to use the best parts of the Big Society thinking to reinforce and promote the good things that are already going on, and to challenge all those who see community activity as a soft target for spending cuts.

As Phil Redmond put it in the Liverpool Echo last week, ‘There are times when people can only turn to each other to get things done.’ And when we do that, we don’t need to worry about what government or politicians think of what we do.

Phil Redmond said another interesting thing about his new role in pushing the Big Society idea in Liverpool. ‘Once you give a Scouser a badge of authority and permission to challenge the status quo – who knows where it might end up?’ We all have permission, and need to make the most of it.

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Julian Dobson

Jul 19

The Big Society needs partisans, not politicians

I posted this entry on my blog earlier today in response to the speech by David Cameron in Liverpool.

The Big Society is such a good idea that David Cameron has launched it at least three times already. Today he was in Liverpool, describing community action as his 'passion'.

It's easy to be cynical about this at a time when community action is already starting to feel the pinch as a direct result of the coalition's spending cuts (Voluntary Action Wakefield is just one of many organisations that has reason to be sceptical).

And there's ample scope for turning the Big Society into a political football. This is bad news, because there are some timely and helpful ideas in the Big Society narrative: to support local people taking action in their communities for themselves; to encourage new forms of ownership that are responsive to people's needs; and to celebrate the initiative and achievements of ordinary people.

There is a long history of government attempting to identify with and support local people's efforts to achieve change in their communities. More than a decade ago we had the policy action team report on community self-help; that was followed by a string of initiatives on community empowerment, including the establishment (and subsequent destruction) of community empowerment networks across the country; and we hadTogether We Can.

Big Society follows this tradition, but risks exactly the same failings.

To avoid those failings, it needs support. But what it doesn't need is a government figurehead. Big Society won't happen because of David Cameron's popularity; if it succeeds it will be despite his inevitable unpopularity as the spending review takes effect.

So the Big Society can do without politicians, of all flavours. What it needs is partisans.

A partisan is a supporter or an enthusiast. In wartime, it's also a guerrilla fighter. Some of those skills - initiative, autonomy, risk-taking - will need to become the stuff of the Big Society if it is to be a voice of the people rather than of the powerful.

The opportunity to pass real power and resources to local communities is too important to be lost in political skirmishing or the trench warfare of vested interests. The idea of the Big Society in the North is to explore how this can be done in a way that expresses the value of the community action that's already happening in the north of England, and brings in new people who want to add to the mix. That's why it's independent of government, but determined to engage constructively both with the Big Society Network and with existing groupings such as CDX and Urban Forum. And from just floating an idea a couple of weeks ago, we now have 100 people attending an initial event and talk of more to follow.

The message to the sceptics is to take the opportunity while it's on offer, and to make the most of it. History suggests radicalism and passion very quickly get bogged down in the apparatus of government.