The Big Society

The Conservative - Liberal Democrat Government have an ambition: to put more power and opportunity into people’s hands. They want to give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want. They want society – the families, networks, neighbourhoods and communities that form the fabric of so much of our everyday lives – to be bigger and stronger than ever before. They want to:

1. Give communities more powers
2. Encourage people to take an active role in their communities
3. Transfer power from central to local government
4. Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises
5. Publish government data

Localism is the principle, decentralisation the process and then Big Society will be the outcome.  Mid Pennine Arts, like many other arts organisations, is an independent social enterprise with charitable status. We have a volunteer, community-based Trustee Board. Much of our work uses art to bring people into an active role in their communities. We've been around a while and we know that what tends to happen in response to all major new policy is an amount of wheel reinvention. Big Society is in place to differing extents in different communities.We believe that there is a danger that this will be ignored in the rush to drive policy change in the context of public funding cuts. Wheel reinvention will happen rather than building on what works already.