Where has this come from?
Prior to the general election May 2010, David Cameron announced his ideology of the Big Society, the basis of which is of community empowerment, opening up public services and greater civic and civil action.
Many speeches, articles and reports have been written about the ‘Big Society’. Most announcements and changes from the coalition Government have been badged as or identified with the concept of a radical rethink of the role of central and local government, with a clear intention to move to a reduced role for government in directing peoples lives, with a corresponding drive to put people and communities more in control of their lives, and decisions that affect them. This increased role for communities is at the heart of the concept of a Big Society as opposed to Big Government.
The Big Society ideology will be established legislatively by the Localism Bill (due to be implemented April 2012) as well as other changes in legislation including the NHS White Paper and more recently and importantly, the Open Public Services White Paper.
Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that the Big Society is
"… a guiding philosophy, a society where the leading force for progress is social responsibility, not state control… It includes a whole set of unifying approaches – breaking state monopolies, allowing charities, social enterprises and companies to provide public services, devolving power down to neighbourhoods, making government more accountable".
Our activities
The Our Society Steering Group (formerly the Stronger Communities Steering Group) of the Dudley Community Partnership took early steps to consider what the Big Society means to Dudley beleiving that the borough should be pro-active in developing it’s own model.
The Dudley Voluntary Sector Network, in partnership with Dudley CVS, Dosti and Urban Forum, held an event on 22nd September 2010, about Getting to grips with the Big Society and the coalition government.
On 18th November 2010, 118 representatives from 24 voluntary, community and faith sector organistions, 11 public organisations and 5 private organistions came together at a DCP event to learn more about ‘Big Society’ and the Localism agenda, and to discuss the implications to themselves and their organisations. More information about the event including presentations, video and photos can be found from the link on the left or clicking here.
Dosti and the DCP both produced 'Big Society Special Edition' newsletters, giving an overview of the Big Society and highlighting case studies from across the borough of the 'Big Society in Action' within the voluntary, community and faith sector and the public sector, respectively. The newsletters both can be found at the foot of this page.
The DCP’s ‘Our Society Steering Group’ is tasked to develop a Dudley Approach to Big Society. An approach has been developed and agreed by the DCP, which continues to evolve based on National legislative changes and local experiences.
Read more on our approach...
