When the coalition government came into power in May 2010 they
set out their vision for building The Big Society. The Big
Society is about “helping people to come together to improve
their own lives. It’s about putting more power in people’s hands
– a massive transfer of power from Whitehall to local
communities”. The Big Society vision focuses on three key areas:
- Community empowerment: giving local councils and
neighbourhoods more power to take decisions and shape their
area. The governments planning reforms lead by Communities &
Local Government will replace the old top-down planning system
with real power for neighbourhoods to decide the future of their
area. - Opening up public services: the governments public
service reforms will enable charities, social enterprises,
private companies and employee-owned co-operatives to compete to
offer people high quality services. The welfare to work
programme, lead by the Department for Work and Pensions will
enable a wide range of organisations to help get Britain