Communities in Control
From:
Mark Walker
Date:
Aug 26 12:29 UTC
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Hi Tony
I wasn't ignoring you, just busy with summer stuff...
I agree with your pessimistic version of things, although I don't have the
wealth of knowledge or experience that you do to have analysed in such an
insightful way.
I'm suspicious in general of the use of jargon like social capital, and in this
case I'm also confused by the way in which local decision-making will sit
alongside other mechanisms such as national and international issues.
The report has some good points to make, and they're not always rhetorical
crowd-pleasers, but I do notice that a lot of information coming from
Government refers to the Third Sector, which apparently encompasses such
diverse organisations as tenant associations and large housing associations.
I'd suggest that there is a huge difference now between the roles of formal
voluntary sector organisations, especially larger charities bidding for
contracts, and the work of community groups, which are mainly voluntary and may
be single issue campaigning groups. And there is also the growing interest in
social enterprise as a lever for extracting resources from local government's
hands.
This isn't about ownership in the same way as the point you make but I think
there is a current bias towards one view of the third sector ie taking control
of assets, which may exclude other important aspects of community, especially
giving people a voice.
.