BHCC - Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce

The Big Debate: Mind the Gap

Thursday 3rd Feb 2011 

Community, philanthropy, bankers’ bonuses and the future of the NHS were all hot topics at last week's 'Mind the Gap' debate.

With David Cameron’s plan for the Big Society making headlines, Brighton & Hove businesses packed out the Chamber event to give their opinions on whether they should step in to fill the holes left by government cuts.

The two opposing speakers were poles apart in their ideology.

On one side, Dr Terence Kealey, vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, stated that the private sector would do a better job of running services – and run them more efficiently.

On the other, Colin Miller, of PACES (Public Agency and Community Empowerment Strategies), argued that big businesses usually only cared about one thing:their profits, and that public services would best serve society if funded by government taxes.

Attendees, representing a wide range of local businesses in the city, had to decide if the private sector:

• Should step in
• Could step in
• Or, indeed, would step in

They were encouraged to vote with their feet and sit near the speaker they agreed with. But with many people switching sides more than once, the lively and thought-provoking debate raised more questions than answers.

Most businesspeople in the city seemed to agree that there was a place for local companies to step in and fill the gap. But the quandary was how they should d othis, to what extent and in which services?

How could we protect the more ‘unfashionable’ charities and services, and the most vulnerable in the community?

Do we want major corporations pulling the strings in the NHS?

Should bigger companies do more than smaller companies?

And do ‘cuts’ always mean something negative when it’s public money – and our taxes – at stake?

By the final vote at this first Chamber debate of 2011, a show of hands suggested a significant proportion of attendees had drifted towards the middle ground.

Perhaps a combination of both sides, or a coalition, would be the best way forward for the city?

Or, as one attendee pointed out, maybe it’s time for local businesses to start looking at the opportunities the cuts could open up for them to engage with the community?

To view photos from the event on Flickr, click here.

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Copy by Linda Harrison

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