The Big Society

The following information was supplied by District Cllr. Patrick Molyneux at our Parish Council Meeting on 1st February 2011 following his discussions with Mark Harper MP.

Big Society and Localism

Vision of the Big Society
The vision for a Big Society holds many opportunities for voluntary and charitable sector organisations, with more diverse providers of public services and greater power for communities to make local decisions.
However, at the moment there are too many barriers to these types of organisations doing government business, and that is why the Government has recently released its modernising commissioning Green Paper, which asked for views on how the Government can create a level playing field for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises that want to bid for public service contracts. The results of this consultation will feed into wider work to publish a Public Service Reform White Paper in early 2011.

Voluntary Sector Funding
Broadly on the subject of voluntary sector funding, the Governments vision for a Big Society, with more diverse providers of public services and greater power for communities to make local decisions, brings huge opportunities to charities voluntary groups and social enterprises. As well as new opportunities and rights, the Government will assist new providers by improving access to the resources they need. The recent Spending Review announced that:
The Government will direct around £470 million over the Spending Review period to support capacity building in the voluntary and community sector, including an endowment fund to assist local voluntary and community organisations. As part of this, the Government will provide funds to pilot the National Citizen Service and establish a Transition Fund of £100 million to provide short term support for voluntary sector organisations providing public services.
The Big Society Bank will bring in private sector funding in addition to receiving all funding available to England from dormant accounts; to bring external investment and expertise into the public sector and share the responsibility and risks of reform, the Government will work with the financial sector, the voluntary sector and community groups to develop innovative equity investment opportunities in public services; and cultural institutions such as museums will be allowed to use money raised independently more flexibly and establish trust arrangements that enable them to generate more funding from private sources.
In addition, the Government will undertake a review of ways to increase philanthropic giving, and will announce further details later this year.
The Prime Minister has made clear to Councils that when it comes to looking at their budgets they should not do the easy thing and reduce funding to voluntary bodies and organisations, but rather should look at reducing core costs and remember the value for money which is gained from working with the voluntary sector.
The Cabinet Office has recently issued guidance, published jointly with the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA), to local authorities giving examples of how local authorities can work well with charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises to minimise the impact of any spending cuts. Charities and voluntary groups are also being encouraged to ‘red flag’ poor practice and make sure it does not go unchallenged.
It is the Government’s view that local authorities which cut from local voluntary and community groups funding streams without taking account of this guidance and communicating with local voluntary and community groups beforehand would be doing their communities a disservice. Government also recently announced continued investment in a programme of training public service commissioners to work with Civil Society organisations.

Promoting democratic engagement
The Government highlighted that it would promote decentralisation and democratic engagement, and will end the era of top-down government by giving new powers to local councils, communities, neighbourhoods and individuals. The Localism Bill will put an end to the hoarding of power within central government and top-down control of communities, allowing local people the freedom to run their lives and neighbourhoods in their own way.
 
Localism Bill
The Localism Bill contains a radical package of reforms that will devolve greater power and freedoms to councils and neighbourhoods, establish powerful new rights for communities, revolutionise the planning system, and give communities control over housing decisions. 
For councils, the Bill will fundamentally change their freedom to act in the interest of their local communities through a new general power of competence. Rather than needing to rely on specific powers, the new power will give councils the legal reassurance and confidence to innovate, drive down costs to deliver more efficient services.
 
Key Measures of the Localism Bill 
The bill will devolve significant new powers to councils which will include new freedoms and flexibilities to local authorities.  There will be a new power to create directly elected mayors in 12 cities giving residents a say in a strong democratically elected leader.
The Localism Bill will establishing powerful new rights for local people and communities and will give local people the opportunity to hold their local authorities to account. Local people and communities will have a real say over their local areas through a new right to challenge to take over services; a new right to bid to buy local assets and a new right to veto excessive council tax rises through a referendum.
The Bill will radically reform the planning system. The current planning system is too centralised and bureaucratic and the Bill will restore democratic and local control over planning. The Infrastructure Planning Commission will be replaced with an efficient and democratically accountable system for major infrastructure. The Bill will enable regional planning to be swept away and in its place neighbourhood plans will become the new building blocks of the planning system where communities have the power to grant planning permission if a local majority are in favour.
Housing will be fairer and more democratic under the Localism Bill and will return decision-making powers on housing to local councils and communities through a new Community Right to Build giving communities the freedom they need in order to come together to build new homes and amenities in their areas. Additionally, Home Information Packs will be formally scrapped. The Bill has also announced changes to social housing and the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy System will be replaced with a more transparent system that serves local communities. Tenants will also have the ability to scrutinise the services offered by their landlords and hold them to account. The Tenant Services Authority will be abolished but its vital economic regulation functions will be preserved;
Creating powerful incentives for economic growth - The Bill will give local government a stronger financial stake in the local economy, helping rebalance the economy, so it is more entrepreneurial and attracts local business
 
Conclusion
These reforms will let Parish councils and communities run their own affairs which will serve to restore civic pride, democratic accountability and economic growth - and build a stronger, fairer Britain. This Bill will mark the end of the era of big government and will lay the foundations for the Big Society.
The Coalition Government's Localism and Decentralisation Bill, published on the 13th December, puts local people, local communities and very local councils in the localism driving seat, giving yet another boost to grassroots democracy and community action.

Notes

Public Service Commissioners

The Public Service Commission was established in 2006 by the Secretary of State to
"make recommendations to government on the guiding principles and steps neccessary to safeguard the interests of staff and to ensure their smooth transfer to new organisations established as a consequence of government decisions on the Review of Public Administartion, taking into account statutory obligations, including those arising from section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1988".
Citizens require of their public service that it be honest, impartial, meritocratic and drawn from the full spectrum of a nation’s constituent communities. It is the responsibility of the Public Service Commission (PSC) to advocate and enforce the values of integrity, impartiality and fairness across the public service organisations it is mandated to oversee. The PSC is the apex body of a country’s civil service. Its commissioners represent core public service values in all their duties and activities, remaining impartial and delivering important guidance and services to their staff and citizens.