Last night Portsmouth City Council hosted a Viewpoint event entitled ‘Still Struggling with the Big Society’. We had a great discussion around people’s perception of what the Big Society means and how it will affect Portsmouth. Three speakers shared their views on the history, viability and progress so far of the Big Society concept. These talks generated debate around accountability and accessibility of the policy and whether it can apply in the same way across the country.
During the focused questions part of the evening each table responded to some issues that have been in the media recently and that still cause confusion and debate. Some of the responses to come out of those discussions were:
- Portsmouth Society is not ‘broken’. The term is loaded and doesn’t help ambition of the Big Society. The media allows us to have a greater knowledge of what is going on in the country compared to the past and so judging today’s society as ‘broken’ compared to history is misleading.
- The Big Society risks leaving some people behind. Those members of society that are not able to speak up or without opportunity to do so may miss out!
- The efficiency savings government is making may undermine the Big Society concept as they may not be driven by customer need. These savings may help now but could have implications in later years.
- In order to create a Big Society army there needs to be an incentive. It will be difficult to give responsibility to those without an incentive to stay involved.
If you would like to get involved in the ongoing debate come along to the next viewpoint event to share your views, or email haveyoursay@portsmouthcc.gov.uk 
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