May 20, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
New research by a commission studying the British government’s Big Society plan found that affluent parts of England are better suited to adopting the idea than poorer areas with greater social needs, writes The Guardian.
With smaller pockets of deprivation and more residents with money and time on their hands, “some communities will be better placed than others” to enact the government’s vision of shifting service provision to charities and volunteer groups, according to the Commission on Big Society established by Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organizations. “The government lacks a credible plan for addressing this problem.”
A report by the Community Foundation for Surrey found that community efforts have long played a key role in providing and supporting services in the southern county of Surrey, which attracts less government money because its pockets of poverty are masked by the area’s relative wealth.
