Questions being asked about
the
BIG SOCIETY
Q. What is Big Society?
A. It is the new coalition Government’s plan to
give citizens, communities and local government the power and
information they need to work together to solve the problems they
face locally and to help build the Britain they want.
Q. Who will be involved?
A. Everybody! The Government wants society – the families,
networks, neighbourhoods and communities that form the fabric of
our everyday lives to be bigger and stronger than ever
before. They want people and communities to have more power
and to take on more responsibility in order to achieve fairness and
opportunity for all.
Q. How could I personally be involved?
A.
Building the Big Society is the responsibility of every department
of Government and every citizen too! Government alone can’t fix
every problem and needs to draw on the skills and expertise of
people across the country when responding to social, political and
economic challenges in Britain today. You may have skills
which would enable you to become a community organiser (see below)
or you may want to set up a Resident’s Association in your area so
that residents can come together to tackle local issues. Or, you
may want to become a volunteer or get involved in social action
projects. There are lots of ways that you could be involved at lots
of different levels.
Q. What is a community organiser?
A. These
will be people who are trained with the skills they need to
identify local community leaders; bring communities together; help
people start their own neighbourhood groups and give communities
the help they need to take control and tackle their problems.
Q. How can I start a Resident’s Association in my
area?
A. Harlow Council can help you. We can send you
a copy of our document ‘A Guide to Setting up and Running a
Residents Association’ and can help you to learn about the
different roles and responsibilities of Residents Association
committee members. We can also provide advice and guidance on how
to engage with people in your neighbourhood and how to write a
Constitution for your Association. You can see the Guide mentioned
above at (A
Guide to Setting Up & Running A Resident Association) and
get more information from our Big Society Team on 01279 446498 or
01279 446192.
Q. What else is Government planning in connection with
Building the Big Society?
A. Government has many
plans that include giving communities more powers; encouraging
people to take an active role in their community; transferring
powers from central to local government; supporting co-ops,
charities and social enterprises; publishing government data by
creating a new ‘right to data’ so that government held datasets can
be requested and used by the public. Government also plans to
oblige the police to publish detailed crime statistics every month
so the public can get proper information about crime in their
neighbourhoods and hold the police accountable for their
performance.
Q. Where can I find out more information about the Big
Society?
A. Contact the Council’s Big Society Team for local information;
follow the links below or maybe just search ‘Big Society’ on the
internet. More information about Big Society developments
nationally will no doubt be posted on the
Communities Government Web site http://www.communities.gov.uk/
Follow these links for more information
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