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Some specific observations:  No such thing as the Big Society? – considering that at one stage this was supposed to give policy substance to the Big Society, it is striking how absent the Big Society is from the White Paper. That’s one cut it didn’t make.  I did a control search and only came across one Big Society reference in the whole report, and this was not to the idea but to the Big Society bank. So this leaves an obvious question about how central the Big Society now will be to the Government? One practical effect of there being no Big Society strand is that the tenor of the White Paper is much more consumerist, gone appears to be the emphasis on social citizenship and responsibility.  This leaves a big gap because, as our Commission on 2020 Public Services argued, the big challenges of the future will need to be met through citizens and the state working together to create better social outcomes.  Very few concrete proposals – This is about direction of travel, rather than specific proposals. In fact, there are very few concrete proposals. Instead this is much more like a Green Paper in which general propositions are put out for consultation, with the question being what specific policy changes would these require? This is clearly a long way from what some of the Big Society evangelists had originally wanted to see.  No short term wins for the voluntary sector – Earlier in the year there had been speculation that the White Paper might contain some specific guarantees for the voluntary sector to help offset the consequences of Council grant cuts.  But, whilst there are warm words for the role of the voluntary sector, and some new development money and support to help develop social social enterprises, there is no specific commitment to, for example, a quota of Council services to be subject to voluntary sector right to bid.   Diversity of provision – the boldest statement in the White Paper is that there is no case for monopoly state provision of services, except for the special cases of defence, criminal justice and policing.  The case is made for all public services to be run on the basis of autonomous institutions such as Academies and Foundation Trusts, which could be run by businesses, mutuals or social enterprises.  However, there are no specific proposals to apply this to any particular service area.  Local government is the big winner – this is the most pro-local government policy paper to have been published by the Coalition.  Whereas, the distinct impression in previous policy developments on public service reform has been that local government was being sidestepped, now it is much more central to the Coalition’s plans for decentralisation.  The principle of decentralisation which is set out in the white paper bears some similarity with the subsidiarity principle developed in the 1990s by the European Union, under which decisions should be devolved to the lowest possible level of government.  The new twist to this is the emphasis in the white paper on establishing neighbourhood councils in urban areas to mirror parishes and to be responsible for the same types of very local, community and public space services.  But the White Paper also makes the case for more powers and greater financial autonomy for local authorities and, in one of its few specific proposals, also recommends that skills funding should pass to some Councils, something which cities like Manchester have been strongly pushing for.

As Nick Timmins noted in the FT today, there are a number of tensions within the White Paper, which are not even acknowledged, let alone resolved.  He cited the principle of promoting diversity whilst at the same time needing to guard against failure, a weakness of successive health reforms and a particularly current concern given the collapse of Southern Cross.   But this isn’t the half of it. Other questions which the White Paper doesn’t confront, but which a credible reform plan would have to resolve, include:  Service integration vs institutional autonomy – how can local government integrate services in the way that the white paper suggests, whilst at the same time vertical service silos are being strengthened through the promotion of institutional autonomy in schools, hospitals, and now in every other service?  Consumerism vs social citizenship – how can a consumerist approach to public services help strengthen the co-productive relationship which there will need to be between citizens and services to meet the social challenges of 2020 and beyond?  Ideas vs practice – how can the Coalition move from exhortation to implementation? The White Paper may contain a framework of principles but it does not set out a convincing strategy as to how reforms based on these could be implemented.  Over the coming weeks we at 2020 will be analysing the Coalition’s reform agenda in more detail and looking to see where the opportunities exist for developing better social productivity practice.  Please let us have your comments and ideas.  Ben Lucas

In the interim, nonprofits seeking to grow their operations have been stuck in a state of arrested development.

Elizabeth Berger, president of the Downtown Alliance, which supports economic development in lower Manhattan, welcomed the mayor's announcement as a necessary step in enabling nonprofits to play their part in promoting the city's economic vitality.

“New York City is home to tens of thousands of nonprofits that are looking to expand, create jobs or move into new facilities, but for the past few years they have faced more expensive financing costs, while some have had to forgo expansion altogether,” Mr. Bloomberg said, in a statement. “This new entity will make it easier and more inexpensive for our critical nonprofit sector to grow and expand.”

While the city's nonprofits don't enjoy quite the same cachet in terms of revenue-generating potential as either financial services or leisure and hospitality, the group exceeds both sectors with respect to employment. While the other sectors employ approximately 434,000 and 320,000, respectively, the more than 42,000 health, human services and cultural nonprofit (HHSC) organizations throughout the five boroughs support approximately 470,000 employees, according to the mayor's office. That sector is the largest private employer in city—employing more than 15% of New York's non-governmental work force.

According to the mayor's office, more than 13 organizations have gone to out-of-state funding sources for assistance in financing capital projects totaling more than $337 million since June 2009. The administration also estimates nonprofits have at least 20 shovel-ready capital projects stuck in the development pipeline with a combined price tag of more than $400 million.

“At a time when many not-for-profits are struggling to make ends meet amid the nation's fiscal woes, this new issuer will serve to strengthen and support an increasingly important sector in our city's economy,” Ms. Berger said in the mayor's office statement. “In lower Manhattan, not-for-profits represent a vital and growing sector, and this action recognizes their value.”

Capital projects and investment in expansion and facilities upgrades have been curtailed as the volatile economy takes a toll on nonprofits struggling to make up for reductions in funding support. “For over three years, nonprofits like ours have faced far too many obstacles in obtaining financing to grow and expand,” Sisi Kamal, chief financial and operating officer at the Friends Seminary School, said in the statement. “The ability to locally access necessary financing in an efficient and cost-effective manner would be a significant investment in the future of our organization and that of many others serving the residents of New York City.”The administration said the new entity, a local development corporation, will open in the next four to six months and that financing requests will be based on board approval. The five borough presidents, in conjunction with the comptroller, will be charged with nominating directors to serve on the board.

"We received 225 proposals for $18 million in funding, and we had $6 million to hand out this time," said Jeffrey Dale, chair of United Way Ottawa's investment committee. "We knew we had to make hard choices

He told MPs that the matter could take “some months before it is completed”, but added that there was an agreement with the Big Lottery Fund to make investments in its place in the meantime.

Chair of the PASC, Bernard Jenkin MP, asked if the situation was frustrating. Sir Ronald said he had gone through the same issue when he set up the social investment company Bridges Ventures. He added: I am confident that we will get state aid exemption for the Big Society Bank from the EU and that, in fact, the EU will turn out to be a big proponent of social investment.”

The creation of the Big Society Bank could be delayed until next year as the government is still trying to secure state aid exemption from the EU, according to Sir Ronald Cohen, independent adviser to the Cabinet Office.

Sir Ronald said there was more room for agreement between the banks and government and stated that an announcement was expected in the next few weeks.

He added that the £200m investment, which will be on commercial terms, would not be at normal market rates and would not necessarily be a typical loan.

At the meeting, Sir Ronald also said it was projected that the Big Society Bank would be cash-positive in seven years. After Jenkins asked if there would be enough deal-flow, he said he was confident that the supply of money would create demand.

However, Sir Ronald admitted it was a challenge to galvanise local engagement after MPs asked whether smaller charities would find it difficult to engage with the Bank.

Sir Ronald also said the Big Society Bank may have to change its name as it wasn’t a bank.