Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, has launched a scathing verdict of the Big Society in the Financial Times, saying it is "irreparably damaged" as a brand.

It is one of the strongest criticism of the government’s flagship policy by a civil society leader, and follows a harsh critique by the Public Administration Select Committee of the execution of the Big Society in a report last week.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Sir Stephen said the Big Society concept has suffered from its association with spending cuts, and also "bad communication and bad articulation" of the idea.

He goes on to blame its failure on a “whole bunch of  ministers who weren’t that keen on it anyway…George Osborne in particular”.

Sir Stephen also criticised the Work Programme in the interview, saying its payment-by-results model tilts the playing field against charities, which often do not even have two months of cash reserves. 

Big Society is a flop  

Elsewhere, the union Unite has also attacked the Big Society – saying it’s a flop because there’s no money.

Unite national officer Sally Kosky said: ”The report by the Public Administration Select Committee has confirmed what we already knew - that the Big Society is a vacuous idea, that lacks clarity.

”This policy has been used to sell a disastrous campaign of severe austerity on the public sector, charities and community organisations, which has resulted in vicious attacks on the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

"David Cameron’s continual relaunching of the Big Society – apparently, we are on the fourth such exercise – is a tribute to the Prime Minister’s reliance on rhetoric rather than substance.”