The chief executive of one of the government’s flagship Big Society projects has accused the government of failing to support the initiative after it spectacularly missed a number of its key targets.
Paul Twivy, chief executive of Your Square Mile, the neighbourhood cohesion project that won £830,000 from the Big Lottery Fund in 2010, also condemned the government for largely abandoning the Big Society concept altogether.
Your Square Mile was one of the first projects to come out of the Big Society Network, which was launched with great fanfare by its then-chief executive Twivy, Lord Wei and David Cameron in March 2010. Soon after the BIG grant was awarded, Twivy set up a new organisation, Your Square Mile Ltd, to run the project and responsibility for its delivery transferred to YSM Ltd. The grant will expire in October this year.
But the latest monitoring report for Your Square Mile, signed by Twivy and dated 28 February 2013, reveals that the initiative has failed to reach several of its key milestones.
Twivy blames the government for not backing it financially.
Your Square Mile’s overall mission was to encourage the UK’s citizens to work together with their neighbours, local civil society organisations and local authorities to build social capital within their communities. It had several objectives, including launching what it hoped would become the UK’s biggest mutual to support local civic action.
But just 140 people have joined the Your Square Mile Mutual, against a target of three million by the end of September this year.
And just five public information screens have been installed across the country, against a target of 10,000.
YSM Mutual is an Industrial and Provident Society registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. It offers member benefits including public liability insurance, personal accident cover, discounted community printing and a legal advice helpline.
'Government not contributed a single pound'
In his progress report on membership numbers for YSM Mutual, Twivy wrote: “The original forecast was made against a background of Your Square Mile being the government’s flagship community project for their Big Society vision. However, the government have not contributed a single pound to YSM, nor marketed its presence even on their Downing Street and Cabinet Office websites.
“They have also largely abandoned the Big Society as a flagship set of ideas, barring a few defined initiatives such as Big Society Bank, National Citizen Service and community organisers.”
A survey of 2,020 adults in August 2011 found that 55 per cent of adults found the idea of Your Square Mile appealing, and 20 per cent were interested in joining the YSM Mutual for £10. Twivy wrote in his report: “The major issue with YSM is not its appeal but its awareness.”
Three YSM projects sponsored by Heineken
A number of other objectives have been missed too.
Your Square Mile pilot projects launched in 16 of the UK’s most deprived areas but now just three neighbourhoods are involved, and these three projects are all sponsored by Heineken, the brewer.
There is a central YSM website, though hosting costs for this are now being borne by Paul Twivy after the budget for hosting ran out. Heineken will support the local websites for its three areas until at least the end of 2013.
Community Infopoint screens have been installed at four libraries and a mosque – a long way from the 10,000 screens that YSM initially envisaged. BT did not want to go ahead with installing the Infopoints until it had seen some trial results, the report said.
On a more positive note, the survey found that the number of people having face-to-face contact with their neighbours rose from 37 per cent to 50 per cent in the pilot areas. However, the target of a 20 per cent increase in perceptions of how helpful their neighbours are, was missed – the rise was just 7 per cent.
Twivy admitted that lack of further sponsorship would not allow YSM to carry out any more survey work to evidence the effectiveness of the pilots.
Twivy could not be reached for further comment.
