The Future of the Big Society Agenda and its Impact on Communities

📅 In 2010, David Cameron introduced the Big Society agenda to enhance individual and community responsibility.

🔑 The agenda aimed to give more power to local councils, support voluntary organizations, and encourage community engagement.

🌍 After seven years, the impact of the Big Society agenda on communities is being assessed.

📌 Sustainable enterprise strategies have been promoting cooperative and social enterprise development since 1983.

📌 The speaker's organization focused on community interest companies and helped launch numerous businesses and social enterprises, making a significant social impact.

📌 Funding restrictions in the Northeast are currently posing a major barrier to further progress.

💼 The government implemented major cuts on public spending, impacting the capacity of small organizations.

📉 The collapse of the banking system and the introduction of austerity led to the end of regeneration programs.

🌍 The country has faced a period of austerity, affecting services provided by the voluntary third sector.

🏢 The infrastructure that supported community organizations has been eroded and disappeared, affecting social cohesion.

💼 The social enterprise sector plays a major role in society, but it is being significantly eroded due to austerity and cutbacks.

🤝 The Big Society initiative failed to bring people closer together or address income and power disparities.

🏛️ The Big Society aimed to empower civic action but failed due to combining it with shrinking the state and emphasizing the market.

🔄 This approach resulted in the opposite effect of empowerment and raises concerns about the future implications.

🔮 The video explores the consequences of the Big Society's failed approach and its impact on society.