How big is Big Society

Mixed messages are being delivered to the British third sector regarding its survival and/or development. The threat of imminent, extreme budget cuts affecting all British sectors are being set off against civil society’s newly given importance and the gradual application of the Tories’ great ‘Big Society Idea’.

“This government will not cut the deficit in a way that hurt those that most need help, in a way that divides our country or in a way that undermines the spirit and ethos of our public services.”

David Cameron’s final remarks in his June 7 speech at the Open University headquarters in London on cuts and the deficit gave a touch of promise in an otherwise gloomy speech. They rounded off a depressing description of the state of the economy, “a legacy of the past government”, and justification of “severe cuts” that were set to change the entire population’s “way of life”.

The final comments may have been received with some interest and hope by British civil society actors who have been singled out by the incoming administration as a point of pride to be developed and focused upon. A place to build a new and rhetorically promising ‘Big Society’. A place where political responsibility may be passed on to be dealt with by more informed and in touch people on the ground.

Not a place to fear some of those drastic cuts then?

With Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announcing £6.25 billion in spending cuts on May 24 and with the office of the third sector shifting to be called the office for civil society, a few questions are buzzing around the British non profit world:

How much will the public cuts affect the third sector itself? What does this terminology switch mean in practice? How can cuts on the one hand still enable empowerment on the other?

At a glance and as they stand in terms of the third sector, the cuts seem like more of a reshuffle than anything else – bar a few exceptions.

Local authority grants will probably suffer the most. A whopping £1.2bn reduction in budget has been announced, though the main grant, the £29bn formula grant, remains untouched and previous restrictions on many of the grants will be lifted, making funding accessible to a wider audience. Regional development agencies will lose £270m, but an extra £170m will go to fund social housing.

Whereas the Labour programme to tackle unemployment amongst black youths (one in two post recession) is being scrapped, an extra £20m funding to pay for 8,000 one week-long breaks for people caring for severely-disabled children has been made available.

Ignoring the Liberal Democrat election promise to make universities free for all, 10,000 fewer university places will be made available this autumn than had been promised by Labour. This goes against current application trends, which are up 16.5 per cent on last year.

Looking into the nitty grittiness of details, some former core staples of third sector functioning are being foregone – although New Labour born Sure Start children centres survive – but new forms of civil society investments are emerging as promised.

Nick Hurd, the first minister for civil society told the media outlet by the same name last week that Futurebuilders, a loan financing provider for third sector organisations which helped those that needed investment to help them bid for, win and deliver public service contracts, was “effectively closed for business now.”

The £200m allocated to it under labour will be re-oriented towards a fund which will seek to develop neighbourhood groups, a key goal in the tory’s Big Society idea.

Another central Big Society concept – the national citizen service, which will mean school leavers spend a minimum of six weeks volunteering – is set to go ahead among public approval. An Ipsos Mori survey, undertaken last month, found that 82 per cent of respondents asked about the voluntary version said they backed the idea, while 80 per cent of those asked about a compulsory version said they supported it.

Social enterprises’ status received a regal nod during the Queen’s Speech at the end of May and the entire sector received a rise in profile, being outlined as an important area for development during the conservative’s time in power.

Beyond the royal mention, the elevation of social enterprises’ status in the corridors of power can clearly be seen by the demarcation of one young man in particular.

Nat Wei, a 33-year-old first generation British citizen, one of the brains behind the Big Society Network, a Young Foundation fellow and co-founder of Teach First, has been named a life peer by the conservative party. On 3 June 2010, he was announced in the House of Lords under the name of “Baron Wei, of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney”, adding a touch of irony to his stiff, crisp surroundings.