Just how the Government is choosing to approach the concept of the Big Society matters greatly to councils as employers because it structures the response to coming budget cuts. Some councils will be spreading cuts widely to protect all services as much as possible. Compulsory redundancies will be kept to a minimum. On the other hand, if local politicians take the view that they should build the Big Society locally, they are likely to withdraw from many activities and pass what money and responsibility they can to local groups. In these circumstances there is the potential for significant redundancy programmes, not just to match cuts but to reflect the fact that from now on, the council will tend to employ a small number of people to facilitate community devolution.
展开▼
