Big Society Policy Resource

Contact Us

Voluntary Sector North West
St. Thomas Centre

Ardwick Green North
Manchester
M12 6FZ
Tel: 0161 276 9300
Fax: 0161 276 9301
Email: info@vsnw.org.uk

Big Society –the VSNW Policy Resource

The ‘Big Society’ concept is a growing part of the Coalition Government’s language and thinking.

As yet it is not a clearly defined concept except that, very loosely, it speaks of a rolling back of the state and the stepping in of ‘Civil Society’ (defined as third sector plus). In a small way, Big Society offers a platform for engaging with the new Government. If there’s a serious and concerted will to make it happen, it could be a very important context for how we as a sector seek to define ourselves.

To help highlight this important debate and draw your attention to how it will affect the third sector we have pulled together a resource to help keep you up to date with the developing issues. For the next few months we will build on this informal resource and you may wish to subscribe or comment.

At the moment the site outlines the beginnings and background context of the debate:

from its roots in the Conservative Think Tank, The Centre for Social Justice
its transformation into a Conservative Party policy (Stronger Society to Control Shift)
launch of the Big Society Network and latest news from their Blog
to the pre-election open letter to the voluntary sector from Francis Maude and Nick Hurd
the formal early outline of the Big Society programme plus launch video
early responses from national third sector bodies
early thoughts and biography of the new Government advisor on Big Society, Nat Wei
latest thoughts, via twitter, of Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society

To find out a bit more, or get involved in the debate, or sign up for updates and simply follow the issues click the link below and go to:

VSNW’s Big Society Policy Resource

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