Give me the money!

In 2010 the Prime Minister said "The Big Society is about a huge culture change...

...where people, in their everyday lives, in their homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their workplace...

...don't always turn to officials, local authorities or central government for answers to the problems they face ...

...but instead feel both free and powerful enough to help themselves and their own communities”

Since then the government has directly funded Academy Schools to be set-up and managed at a local level. £3.8bn has been allocated to Health and Wellbeing boards to encourage integrated health and social services. Local Enterprise Partnerships have been given the task of distributing and prioritising tens of billions of pounds to stimulate the economy, create jobs and encourage enterprise at a local level.

But to my knowledge no-one has been given any money to sort out the environment. 

We’ve had The Lawton Report, The Natural Environment White Paper, The Ecosystem Services Market Task Force reports, The Natural Capital Committee reports, the Natural Childhood report, the State of Nature report, not to forget the IPCC’s latest report on climate change. Plenty of evidence for the need for radical change and investment in our natural environment and yet the Big Society which has funded education, health and business stops short of the environment. Why?

Perhaps it’s because no-one has come forward, so let me put my hand up and say ‘I’ll do it’. Of course there will need to be terms of reference and I will gather around me the relevant qualified people and cross-sector representation but there’s plenty to do so let’s get on with it.

Dave? Owen? George?