Over the past year the Our Bigger Story evaluation team has been working with 15 Big Local areas on two themes which are central to the way Big Local operates.

Firstly we have been exploring what the idea of “resident led” means in practice. The term has been used as a short-hand to describe “bottom up” driven change at the local level. On the surface this seems a simple idea with residents forming the majority of any partnership. Yet, in reality, resident led is a deeply contested term. Who “qualifies” as a resident and who are “authentic” residents have been constant issues in the research – and there have been different views and interpretations.

Secondly we have been exploring the concept of community leadership in Big Local areas and what this looks like “on the ground”. Again the idea seems simple, but whilst Big Local areas agree this is not about the charismatic individual, they have a range of perspectives – ranging from members of the Big Local partnership as community leaders through to a much more diverse understanding such as promotion of small scale local activities which build the leadership skills of local people.

Finally, over 2018, the Our Bigger Story team interviewed 70 people who may have a stake in Big Local and its anticipated outcomes – such as elected members, local government officers and other representatives from voluntary and statutory organisations. Each of those interviewed had different levels of knowledge about how Big Local operates and different perspectives around the the idea of resident led change. We heard both positive and more negative views. This third report aims to reflect that range of views on Big Local progress from “the outside-in” and highlights some of the challenges in building strong strategic partnerships.