Big society proposals met with negativity, says survey
The coalition government’s plans for new social enterprises and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to help build the ‘big society’ leave much to be desired, according to a survey from the University of Nottingham.
The online survey, the UK Business Barometer, was taken by businesses and business advisers across the country. The university said the results confirmed “a general lack of enthusiasm” for the big society idea championed by the Conservative party.
When asked whether social enterprises would thrive under the coalition government because they are well placed to pick up the big society model, only 14 per cent of businesses and 18 per cent of business advisers believed they would be successful.
Questions on the formation of LEPs and the demise of the regional development agencies were met with a negative response, said the university.
Responses to the survey suggest that the ability of LEPs to promote the local economy could be “in serious doubt”, as more than half of businesses (57 per cent) and advisers (61 per cent) feel that LEPs will not succeed in promoting the local economy.
In addition, only 24 per cent of advisers thought their situation would be improved as a result of the introduction of LEPs while one-quarter believed their prospects would remain unchanged.
