26th January 2012

WEST DORSET: MP outlines 'Big Society' vision

West Dorset MP, Oliver Letwin, has outlined a future where local councils have a smaller role to play and volunteers will do more.

He said that in a world where there was increasing scepticism about all forms of authority and bureaucracies people increasingly wanted to take control of their lives.

His “Big Society” vision was outlined to many of the people who he said the public were increasingly wary of – including local council officials each earning well in excess of average local wages, and other public sector leaders.

The Dorset Stakeholders event at Herrison Hall, Charlton Down had been earlier marked by a series of professionals so unable to speak to time that the entire session where they could be questioned about their work and proposals had to be scrapped.

In his keynote speech Mr Letwin was critical of what he described as highly centralised organisations which, he said, often took the wrong decisions, at the wrong level.

“We cannot go on expecting high quality public services unless we accept taxing people more,” and he said that was no longer an option.

He said the idea of operating at a very local level with what he described as “dispersed responsibility” was not a new concept.

“There are overwhelming arguments for finding ways of moving the centre of responsibility downwards and outwards to communities, to the people who know their place better than anyone.”

Mr Letwin said apart from anything else decisions taken at lower levels were more likely to be the correct ones because those involved would understand what was needed in a real and practical way.

“They know, almost instinctively, what is important and what can wait. They don’t operate on theory, but on a practical level.”

He said what was important was “social capital” where people had a sense of community and place where they felt a stake in what was happening and were part of it, rather than something which was being imposed by bureaucrats. He said that feeling of belonging and involvement mattered more than efficiencies.

“It allows people to conquer problems for themselves, better than government and bureaucracies, and it also achieves a sense of pride in doing it for yourself…people have the capacity to take the future in their own hands.”

Mr Letwin cited local examples where villages had taken over their pubs and shops, where self-help groups thrived and where organisations like First Responders operated, not because councils and other authorities acted, but because they failed to act.

The MP, during questions, said that people would have to be freed from some of the law and regulation which prevented action in communities.

He pledged that the Government would be reviewing health and safety laws and the way in which Criminal Record Bureau checks were carried out to make it easier for people to help and volunteer in their own communities.

WEST DORSET: MP outlines 'Big Society' vision

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