Big Society – the Stafford event 12th October 2010

Discussion groups debatring what the Big Society agenda means for them

With workers and volunteers from a diverse range of groups and organisations, the delegates at this event split into discussion groups for roundtable sessions. This was a chance for them to talk with peers about what the Big Society agenda means to them as well as the ramifications it is likely to have for their organisations and the communities they serve.

Here are some of the thoughts, topics and questions raised by these conversations. One table touched on the challenge in defining the Big Society, and therefore the difficulty in communicating that information to the communities whose needs they represent:

• Concerns around how to filter and process information about the concept of the Big Society and the tools available – requires an educational process in disseminating material. There’s assumed knowledge which not everyone has access to. The pressure to keep track of changes creates an entangled situation
• The challenge of tackling the marginalisation of social groups, via implementing Big Society concepts
• The emphasis should be on the most deprived people, particularly in relation to housing
• Labels for initiatives and departments have been redefined – lessons learned before shouldn’t be discarded completely, but instead be built upon. These experiences can teach us a lot for the future
• Big Society is a paradigm – a way of thinking but not a new mindset. Government role is perhaps more about facilitating, with local government taking a more leading role
• Many of the future opportunities may rely on partnerships between businesses and organisations, which presents challenges for organisations which have not had as many opportunities to develop links with others in the area. Is building relationships with external partner organisations more difficult with tighter budgets and access to fewer resources?
• There is a lack of community engagement in the planning process, and it requires resources to do this – pre-application discussion is very limited. How can you get more of a balance? What is the end result behind this engagement?
• The positive side of this is that there is more potential for communities to launch proposals and get projects considered by contributing efforts at ground level

Another table looked more closely at the relationships between communities and those leading initiatives, as well as stressing how each community’s needs will require their own unique approach to ensure suitability:

• People change and adapt to reflect new situations – but are the opportunities to adapt so readily available to poorer communities?
• Will the rolling out of the Big Society increase the gap between the richest and poorest communities?
• There is a challenge in reconciling the idea of empowering communities at the same time as reducing costs. Many of the initiatives that exist already are funding-driven
• Partnership work is central to the idea of the Big Society but is perhaps not being flagged as a pivotal way forward. Does this require further strategising for how to work together towards mutual goals?
• Partnerships involving public agencies and the voluntary sector – what role do they have to play in a Big Society which appears to emphasise individualism?
• The more disadvantaged the community, the more parochial their view tends to be on what constitutes their local area. Perhaps there needs to be a way of communicating information which challenges mindsets to assist in targeting mutual goals?
• Organisations are looking for external funding for volunteer schemes which had previously been subsidised (pre recession) – but volunteer schemes and projects are the Big Society in action
• Support for young people and families – in the most disadvantaged communities they do not have access to the same educational opportunities, which restricts what opportunities to them later in life. Tackling this is a strategic issue but how successful are the relevant agencies in attempting to resolve this issue?
• The importance of role models visiting communities – the need for relevance to the community in question, people who know the community and what goes on but aren’t necessarily seen as a (distanced) authority figure – see school caretaker for example
• Organic evolution of community organisations through working with existing services e.g. local police. Can this level of activity work without community engagement workers to support it? Can it work on its own?

Many of these points were picked up on in interviews with some of the delegates, which will be uploaded to the website soon.

Posted on 12th October 2010 by Simon Harper
Tags: big society, community engagement, events, localism, partnerships, stafford, stafford event, staffordshire
Posted in Active Citizenship, All events, Big Society, Our events, Places, Projects, Staffordshire | 1 Comment »