Much of what has been written on the opportunities and challenges of implementing the ‘big society’ has been from the perspective of local authority providers or community development organisations. This new research gives voice to the regular users of services, investigating their attitudes towards greater localism and the appetite for greater participation in both local decision making and service delivery.
In the light of the Government’s push for greater localism, the research was an attempt to get to the bottom of why and how people participate in their local area and what enthusiasm there was to play a potentially larocr role.
The Optimisa Research report Citizens at the heart of shaping local services (PDF 535KB) is also available.
Read the What next for localism? blog
