A flagship Big Society initiative in Surrey has failed to win a contract. This is not really surprising, but it illustrates how public services won't simply be taken over by voluntary start ups. Bidding in a major procurement process is extremely hard. Whoever is awarding the contract has detailed legal requirements designed to promote fair competition, and established companies with experience will be more likely to succeed than enthusastic amateurs. If the awarding authority is biased in its contract evaluation, it can be sued.
I suspect that the Tories are actually well aware of all this, and the fluffy "Big Society" rhetoric is really about covert privatisation.
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