Posted on July 12th, 2011 by Veronique Jochum in Archived related news
Tagged as: Big Society, civic engagement
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Respublica, the think-tank led by Philip Blond, has just released a new report Civic Limits: How much more involved can people get? which states that so far the coalition government has ‘failed to engage sufficiently with the challenge of increasing civic involvement’.
The authors of the report highlight a number of recommendations to double the size of the ‘civic core’ - the small proportion of the population (currently estimated at 30%) accounting for most of the activity taking place, whether volunteering, charitable giving or civic participation…which seems really very ambitious considering that the statistics, over last decade or so, regarding these activities have remained largely static or have decreased.
The recommendations include: stop pointless consultation; introduce the Community Allowance; engage constructively and directly with cuts campaigns to create on-going engagement platforms; and introduce a right to try in Localism Bill.
The report is available for download here. It has been published with the intention of gathering feedback from civil society leaders and members of the public. This feedback will be compiled in a final version of the report that will be launched at the Conservative Party’s Autumn conference.