West Berkshire bids to be the new Liverpool
Council leader, Graham Jones, has asked that the district council be considered for the Big Society pilot scheme
WEST Berkshire should be chosen to replace Liverpool in the Government's ‘Big Society' pilot scheme, according to the leader of the district council.
Last week, Liverpool City Council - one of four vanguard areas selected for the initiative - withdrew its involvement in the project because the Labour-controlled council claimed that Government cuts were undermining the voluntary sector and threatening the future of many local volunteer groups.
The council's view has been echoed by Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, who is retiring from the Community Service Volunteers, who said there was no strategic plan and that the cuts were undermining the Big Society concept, which aims to give communities and the voluntary sector more control over local services.
However, the leader of West Berkshire Council, Graham Jones (Con, Lambourn) has now written an open letter to the minister for decentralisation, Greg Clark, asking to be considered for inclusion in the Big Society Vanguard Area Scheme.
He said the council is already doing work in the district to successfully promote the Big Society concept, while he cited Greenham Common Trust, the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire and the Greater Greenham Project as examples of the Big Society in action.
He said: "There was a window of opportunity for West Berkshire when Liverpool decided not to go ahead and we decided to be proactive in putting our case forward.
"We are well placed to join the scheme as we already have Beacon Status for our Parish Plan programme, and have many other relevant projects doing extremely well around the district."
Mr Jones added in his open letter that West Berkshire is essentially rural nature based around smaller communities, making it an area where the Big Society concept could be developed very successfully.
He has copied the letter to the Prime Minister and several other MPs, including Newbury MP, Richard Benyon, Reading West MP, Alok Sharma and the MP for Wokingham, John Redwood, while Mr Jones has asked for an early indication as to whether West Berkshire will be considered.
