Will we all fit in the Big Society tent?

In his promotion of the Big Society, the prime minister has said he wants to see 'a country of do-ers and go-getters'. However, it is often difficult to know how or what we can realistically 'do' or 'get'.

This is where the Localism Bill sweeps in, by providing new ways to increase community participation and ownership of local services.

But even a quick look at the bill shows the emphasis is on processes rather than people. With this focus on structures, will the Big Society ever manage to reach out to the voices we seldom hear from?

The problem is that the new community rights in the bill are not simple to use. Many of the community rights are designed to give communities a way of breaking into bureaucratic local authority procedures, such as commissioning or spatial planning. The legislative response has been complex community rights to challenge services, buy community assets or write neighbourhood plans.

The bill represents the first wave of Big Society policy. It has been swiftly followed by the quietly announced Open Public Services white paper, which has an ambitious agenda for giving neighbourhood councils more control of services like parks, libraries and community safety.

We have some concerns that this could result in a new set of closed bureaucratic processes, which are likely to distance people who already feel marginalised in the community, including many older people.

The Citizenship Survey 2009-10 showed that older people were less likely than younger groups to feel they could influence decisions locally and nationally. In addition, research suggests that over one million people over 50 are socially excluded from society. Without hearing their ambitions and concerns, the services older people use every day are not going to be meeting their needs.

The summer break from Parliament seems like an ideal time for the government to set out its plans for the support it has promised. Before the bill is signed off the government should be confident that it knows what advice and funding it can provide to get people involved.

Having these ideas in legislation is not going to be enough to make them happen. There will need to be targeted work so that the whole community is given equal opportunity to participate.

Throughout recess, ePolitix.com will be focusing on a different policy theme each week. This week we are featuring articles with a focus on localism and the Big Society.