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Small might be beautiful but it is complicated

Does anyone else think it is rather bizarre that we – in England and Wales – need primary legislation to establish community activities through the Localism Bill which amends older legislation? Behind it is the principal of the Big Society where there is greater local empowerment in communities, more flexibility in local planning and opportunities for bottom-up change in the provision of local services. The purpose of the Big Society is to identify opportunities to change the current situation and reduce the perceived inefficiencies of local government. But this involves change and few of us like and embrace change.

Those that follow this blog will know that I don’t usually look at public sector issues, Vivian Partnership Ltd focuses on private sector issues. The Localism Bill and Big Society present a very interesting challenge for business. Focus has been on the developers, with changes in the Budget 2011, freeing up the planning process for economic growth. But I believe that through this desire by central government to break down the infrastructure of the state and extend ownership to the local community they will open a Pandora’s box, the contents of which the Westminster village has no real idea about.

In some workshops Vivian Partnership has recently completed as a part of the stakeholder engagement for corporate sustainability reporting and through some work Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire is doing to refurbish their Ecohouse, I have seen first hand the complexity of the Big Society.

For many companies they are simply not equipped to engage with the local community. The belief that a PR programme will “win friends and influence people” is simply misguided. PR has a function but it will never allow you to break into the community, understand their issues and will always be seen for what it is – PR. Communication by many companies is one way, informing and instructing the audience – and usually remains unheard and not respected.

This week at one of the workshops, I was told by one local resident that the current people power in Libya and Middle East is inspiring and is motivating this community to become more active. We are all aware of the “funny” acronyms – NIMBY and BANANA (and for those not aware Not In My Back Yard and Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) – and I feel we are about to enter a new era of resistance, intolerance and intransigence as a result of the government’s ideology.

While they believe that this freedom will mean more “sustainable [sic] growth”, in reality it will be a charter for communities to block development – sustainable or unsustainable alike. If we consider the development of renewable energy supplies or environmental technological innovation (especially in waste management) then public resistance is already manifest – blocking waste incineration with energy recovery and wind turbines. In fact, I learned recently that one water utility is unable to get permission for single turbines (not wind farms).

I don’t want this blog to become an attack on current government policy. The reality though is that this policy is misguided. There is a reason why we have strategy and the phrase “for the national (or greater) good” means something. And business is constantly asking for certainty from government policy to enable proper planning of resources and development. Localism has many merits and the “nanny state” has been much admonished – but the current move towards a form of anarchy is not needed. It might be an exciting experiment in someone’s head in Westminster, but Big Society, in this form, is unlikely to lead to a more sustainable future.

When we hark back to former times when communities were strong, when rationing was taken on the chin and we innovated and survived, we forget two things – we are not at war and we have long since replaced any sense of civic duty. Obviously individuals do still possess it but across society we have become selfish and self-centred. Also the concept of community has changed hugely.

We don’t need primary legislation to create a “Big (or Local) Society”, we need a proper sense of duty to our collective futures not individual greed. Business, and especially big business, needs to be a part of that collective future and needs to engage much more and much better, to listen and respond. In this way we can move towards greater respect between parts of society.  But it is a long path ahead and one than won’t be created by new legislation but is generated from grass roots leadership.

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