Cuts undermine David Cameron's 'big society', says Labour

David Cameron's "big society" has been dismissed as vacuous by Labour as figures show the government is cutting £734m from voluntary projects at the heart of the prime minister's mission. An audit by the Labour party shows that 6% of the statutory funding for civil society projects is being cut as part of the coalition's plan to reduce Britain's record fiscal deficit. The cuts include: • £370m after the extension of the Future Jobs Fund was cancelled. The number of job grants was due to rise to 200,000, of which 64% were for civil society groups. • £95m from the National Affordable Housing programme. • £14m from the Youth Community Action programme, designed to ensure that all young people participate in at least 50 hours of community action by 19, and £11m from the Youth Sector Development Fund, which is focused on the disadvantaged. • £7m from the Prevent programme, designed to help challenge extremists and £4m from the Cohesion programme designed to tackle extremism. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that voluntary organisations received £12.8bn from public funds in 2007-08. The £734m cuts announced by the government represent 6% of this amount. Tessa Jowell, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said: "What people want is not the vacuous promise of a big society but a good society where everybody does their bit and is helped to do so to improve their community and create benefits for everyone.But a big society that cuts people loose, leaving them to stand on their own, will never work."