A cartoon by Steve Bell a while ago showed a masked robber in the Big Society Bank being told that they didn’t have any money as such – only bollocks. “Put the bollocks in a bag, and hurry,” says the robber. The original of this cartoon was presented as a farewell gift yesterday to Nick… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Big Society Bank
Big society fatigue sets in
It’s been hard to get away from the big society in the last couple of weeks. All the papers – including the Sun – have been on about it, and every second programme on radio and TV has been trying to get a handle on it. It’s been enough to make even current affairs addicts… Read more »
Just how useful is the Big Society Bank going to be?
The announcement that the Big Society Bank was to receive £200m funding “on a commercial basis”, rather than £1bn as a gift, surprised a lot of people, including, it appeared from some conversations I had yesterday, some people in the banks and the Treasury themselves. It leaves the third sector in a different, less useful… Read more »
David Cameron may support local action but what about local government?
I woke this morning to hear charities leading the news. It did not turn out to be quite as interesting as it first seemed. Previews of David Cameron’s comments about the big society contained mainly re-heated announcements, such as setting up a big society bank. But there was some interesting new information, such as the… Read more »
Quick, savage cuts may be good for the economy but they will damage the voluntary sector
A few weeks ago, Nick Hurd, the new minister for civil society, toured Paddington Development Trust, a charity that provides community services. Afterwards he declared himself well satisfied. The trust, he said, was an “emblem of the big society in action”. Barely a fortnight later Hurd’s colleagues in the Communities and Local Government department stepped… Read more »
I’m willing to bet Nick Hurd a tenner the big society bank won’t open on time
The Cabinet Office recently laid out clear goals in its structural reform plan for what it will achieve, and when. The plan is a set of apparently cast-iron policy guarantees that the third sector can rely on. It includes 14 measures to bring about the prophesied big society, which if they are kept will have… Read more »