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Downing Street Summit – Green Paper to put Big Society at the heart of public service reform

CAB 189/10 
2 November 2010

Ministers today pledged swift action to open up new opportunities in public services as charity, voluntary and social enterprise sector leaders gathered at No11 Downing Street for a summit on their future in public services.

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, alongside Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark and Civil Society Minister Nick Hurd announced:

• the intention to publish a Green Paper later this year for discussion on creating a level playing field for civil society organisations wanting to bid  for public service contracts. It will inform a Public Service Reform White Paper next year;
• continued investment in a programme of training public service commissioners to work with Civil Society organisations will continue; and
• and reiterated that social enterprises are eligible to apply for funding from the £1.4 billion regional growth fund.

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:

“In the past, huge amounts of money have gone in to public services and been swallowed up by bureaucracy before it reached the frontline. A Big Society approach will drive improvements by giving power to people working on the ground who know how to do things better.

“I want to see a whole mix of providers. New models like public sector staff forming co-ops to run their services and civil society organisations forming new alliances with government and the private sector can drive this change. They will break down the old fashioned public service hierarchies and replace them with vibrant, efficient services that give people the support they need.”

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark said:

“The Government is united in its drive to open up public services so the best providers get the job. I am making sure that more power goes to the local level where decisions about what is needed are best made. I want local voluntary groups to have the right to deliver more services locally so that the sector are not confined to a walled-off part of councils' budgets.”

Civil Society Minister Nick Hurd said:

“The Commissioning Green Paper will kick-start a radical shift in public service contracting so only the most innovative approaches to win through. We know that there are too many barriers for civil society organisations that want to deliver public services and we are determined to sort them out. I’m very pleased that we can continue training public services commissioners in working with civil society, better understanding in this area will be critical to our success. It is also a great recognition of the value of social enterprises that they will be able to access the £1.4billion regional growth fund.”

Notes to Editors

1. The Commissioner training programme was opened in 2006. To date 2,000 commissioners have been through the programme with 3, 000 expected to have been trained by March 2011. The new funding will ensure that commissioners are able to contribute to the Big Society agenda and respond to public service reforms. For further information see: www.idea.gov.uk/thirdsector
2. The Regional Growth Fund is a discretionary £1.4bn Fund that will operate for 3 years between 2011 and 2014 to stimulate enterprise by providing support for projects and programmes with significant potential for creating long term private sector led economic growth and employment. For further information please see:
   http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/news_releases/2010/101028-regionalgrowth.aspx