Big Society minister urges businesses to bolster ties with charity groups

James Murray from Business Green writes about Global Action Plan's Uncomfortable Bedfellows event including Nick Hurd talking about Big Society.

The minister tasked with turning David Cameron's 'Big Society' vision into reality has called on businesses to improve their links with the charity sector, accusing firms of being largely "absent" from the debate about the future of civil society.

Speaking at an event on the relationship between companies and charities hosted by broadcasting giant Sky and environmental charity Global Action Plan, Cabinet Office minister for civil society Nick Hurd said the " massive retrenchment of the state" meant businesses and charities would have to work closer together to deliver valuable services, such as many of those designed to help cut UK carbon emissions.

While acknowledging that people "may hate the phrase", Hurd stressed that the so-called 'Big Society' agenda would remain a central part of the government's programme, even though ministers' main role would be to "contribute to the atmosphere" surrounding the concept, leaving businesses and charities to "step up" to enact David Cameron's vision of civil society-led public service provision.

He argued that businesses had not even begun to "tap the surface" of what could be achieved by working with charities to deliver programmes that could, for example, help improve environmental performance or tackle social problems.

"Business up to now has been almost entirely absent from that debate, that partnership [between civil society and government]," he said, arguing that executives needed to realise there were "hard commercial reasons" for them to promote civil society schemes and encourage volunteering amongst their workforce, including reputational benefits and improved skills development.

Hurd presented the central philosophy behind the Big Society as a desire to get people to "reconnect with the fact we all have responsibilities beyond paying tax, obeying the law and maximizing profits for shareholders".

However, he provided scant details on how government would actually facilitate improved links between businesses and charities beyond a vague commitment that plans to transfer power to local communities would make it easier for groups of charities to work out what they need and provide businesses with a wish list detailing the challenges they want to address.

Attendees at the event predicted the government's 'big society' agenda is likely to shape large parts of its green strategy, particularly given that large numbers of publically funded environmental advisory bodies are expected to be scrapped in the coalition's "bonfire of the quangos", which according to insiders could be announced as early as tomorrow.

Hurd hinted green charities, such as Global Action Plan, could work with larger numbers of corporate organisations to provide environmental advisory services, while energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne has similarly signaled that he expects businesses and charity groups to drive the roll out of the government's Green Deal home improvement scheme.

However, delegates expressed scant optimism that the 'Big Society' will be able to plug the gap created by government spending cuts, warning that large numbers of hard won environmental improvements could be put at risk by a strategy that is based on the hope civil society can effectively replace the state.

Dax Lovegrove, head of business relations at WWF, voiced fears the local focus of Cameron's 'Big Society' vision would result in businesses and charities supporting small scale initiatives at the expense of addressing larger international challenges such as climate change and deforestation.

Hurd said the government was working on an international citizen service that would mobilize volunteers to work on international projects, insisting that it should be possible to reconcile the 'big society's' local roots with global challenges.

But Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, similarly voiced fears that the concept could encourage a form of "American philanthropy", where businesses and wealthy individuals fail to adopt more sustainable business models, but make themselves feel better by funding small scale environmental or social projects.

"I fear from the minister's comments we are moving in the wrong direction, heading towards a US model of philanthropy rather than driving fundamental change to our economy," he said.

Meanwhile, Trewin Restorick, chief executive of Global Action Plan, said that the "creative destruction" wrought by the up-coming cuts would give businesses and charities little time to scale up to fill the gap left by government services, particularly given that charities themselves are also expecting to see their funding cut, while many businesses are focused on short term economic risks.

This article was written by James Murray, Editor of Business Green.

See the agenda and read more about Global Action Plan's Uncomfortable Bedfellows event.