This respondent examine the attitudes and concerns of residents and community groups regarding the Big Society. The Big Society is a concept whereby a significant amount of responsibility for the running of a society or community is devolved to local people and volunteers. Knowing this, the Runnymede Trust set out to investigate how minority groups felt about the prospect of an environment where everyday and essential services were no longer in the hands of the State but their own.

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The Runnymede Trust went to three different communities with very different experiences of ethnic diversity, Croydon, Blackburn and Newcastle, to hear what they thought about the opportunities and the risks of the localism agenda.

The report found that the four biggest challenges facing the Big Society were: the scepticism of some citizens, residents' fear about the changes, potential social divisions resulting from the reforms and the risk of increased inequality.