Big Society – an invitation to Churches?

We first heard about ‘Big Society’ in the General Election campaign when David Cameron offered it as the alternative to Big Government and it is now the philosophy which underlies much of the Coalition Government’s activity.  In particular it is the driving force behind
•    Encouraging voluntary Social Action and Neighbourliness
•    Decentralisation and Public Service Reform
•    Community Empowerment and the Localism Bill now before parliament
The government believes that this is a huge change in direction; the Prime Minister said “We will be the first government in a generation to leave office with much less power in Whitehall than we started with. We are going to take power from government and hand it to people, families and communities”.
There has been much debate in both church and secular media about the pros and cons of Big Society. The Archbishop of Canterbury gave it ‘Two and a half cheers’; a cheer for a sense that the local is important, a cheer for the sense that this somehow has to build around existing communities enriching our vision of humanity but then only a half cheer because we don't quite yet know how far this could be a buck-passing exercise and a cover for deep cuts in public services.
Any radical strategy such as this also entails at least some degree of risk as it is implemented: Will people volunteer to be good neighbours?  Will voluntary and community organisations as well as businesses be in a position to fill the gaps left by a shrinking government sector? Will people abuse the power that will be devolved to them?
David Cameron describes himself as a strong ‘localist’ … “for one simple reason. I know that the small, the personal and the local work with the grain of human nature and not against it.” Is he right to trust human nature in this way? Could it lead to ‘NIMBYism’ and ghettoisation rather than altruism and neighbourliness?
There are still more questions than answers about Big Society, though the publication of the Localism Bill in December has put more flesh onto the bones.  One thing is clear however, Churches and other local voluntary and community groups will be expected to be involved in caring for some of the most vulnerable in our community. How will we respond?  How will we stand up for those who get left behind, not just those who are poor or disadvantaged but also those who are unpopular and vilified such as refugees and migrant workers?  How will we take advantage of these policies to be Good Neighbours?