The Big Society is here: Where is the Labour response?

By Tony Burton

Amid the jostling for position among Labour’s potential leaders about the Big Society there is a fundamental truth about the growing importance of people taking control of their own lives.

Love it or loathe it the Big Society is tapping a rich vein of political opportunity.

Our national story is one forged by people who care. This is a land rich in history and the signs of it are all around us. Yet some of the most important stories cannot be told by reading the clues in the landscape and streets. They lie in the dry records of local authority planning committees, dog eared newsletters of local community groups and the rich tapestry of life recorded in local newspapers and radio. These are the stories of the communities that care. Those who stand up and campaign against damaging development, dismal architecture, unnecessary street clutter and clone-town Britain. Those who work together to bring places to life and to research and celebrate what gives everywhere its own identity and what provides our diverse communities with their roots. So much of the national good today is testimony to their determination, hard work and foresight – and they present a rich political opportunity.

The civic movement has been central to this story for over 150 years and provides some pointers. The first civic societies were founded when Queen Victoria was young and the movement now has hundreds of local groups in the warp and weft of local communities nationwide. It is one of the country’s most important, if little known, social networks and one with a powerful part to play in the revitalisation of civic action.

Civic societies play an essential role in helping individuals and communities to understand and take action to improve the quality of their life through the place where they live. Land use planning is a particular focus and civic societies also promote and celebrate the best of what is inherited from the past and what is developed for the future. They are a fundamental source of civic pride.

These groups can be provocative, stubborn, forceful, inspiring and outspoken on behalf of the places they care about. They are fiercely independent and grassroots organisations, often providing the grit in the oyster which stimulates people to think, reconsider and widen their horizons. Civic societies are found resisting damaging change while also celebrating and encouraging positive action. They are a store of knowledge and expertise about local places and much of their potential to help the nation discover and listen to its communities and its roots remains untapped.

This is a local movement that is now emerging at a national level. The former umbrella body, the Civic Trust, closed last year after becoming dependent on projects and external grants which dried up. Civic Voice is now leading the charge and working in a very different, grassroots and light footed way – supporting, inspiring and encouraging local groups to work together as a national movement and operating on a shoestring budget with maximum use of volunteers and new media.

Our Love Local campaign gives a flavour of what can be done. It asks everyone to share what they love about where they live and why. What makes it attractive, enjoyable and distinctive and what makes them proud. It seeks out the local DNA and the results are revealing what people care about in different parts of the country and giving voice to the feelings they have. Everyone can participate – there is a short survey on our and we’re collecting digital images.

Three in every four civic volunteers surveyed can identify something in their local area which they value and which they feel is at risk. There is a real sense of concern but also a sense of pride about the different parts of the country. It is a pride that is shared at the highest level. Less than a week after its launch Civic Voice found itself simultaneously blessed by Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron in the thick of the General Election campaign as they fed in their views on what they love locally.

The politicians who find the way to tap into the passion that people have for the place where they live will find rich prizes. The Big Society is setting the pace – where is the Labour response?

Tony Burton is the Director of Civic Voice.

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2. Ignore the relics – Labour needs an innovative response to Tory prison plans
3. Some critical questions for David Cameron’s Big Society and “dysfunctional communities”
4. A response to Tom Harris
5. A society of equals: an egalitarian agenda for Labour