Will we love the Big Society beat?

‘Small Government’ has always been a Tory concept but now it has been given a Dub Step remix and the bassline booming out is ‘Big Society’. Will this capture the imagination of the public? Certainly, some songs have been remixed to give them a modern vibrancy but is Small Government a good tune or will the Big Society beat begin to irritate us after a while?

The previous Labour administration had some good intentions in terms of supporting children, and in its second term of office got down to business with ideas to reduce child poverty, improve the quality of nurseries and give parents more access to affordable childcare. These were laudable ideas but proved hard to put into practice.

Labour’s third term was spent micromanaging and overwhelming the sector with changes. With these came a surfeit of quangos and monitoring criteria, which did little to encourage a Big Society response. However, it did set a precedent for the public to expect government to do something about everything, an attitude we are stuck with.

So, if we are to have Small Government, Mr Cameron and his cabinet will need to learn to do little or nothing and just be available to help provide a structure when we ask, so we can to do the things that are a genuine response to community and market forces.

The first test for me will be whether I respond to parents’ requests to set up nursery schools. In this instance, what I will need from Small Government is a simple process and easy funding. That also means finding a way to reduce the morass of health and safety regulations and employment law, both of which can challenge common and business sense. The Big Society outcome would be

 the engagement and social capital resulting from the process of setting up the schools.

In a word, if we want to play the Small Government tune we must agree  on the Big Society beat and connect our local experience with informed enterprising action.