The "big society" is a big fat lie, as Polly Toynbee argues (Comment, 7 August), but its ideological roots need to be considered. The prime minister's many statements on the issue could be considered either worryingly uneducated about the nature of civil society, or recklessly ideological without much concern for the work charities do. The idea that civil society could replace the state's involvement in welfare by motivating people to do more for each other – at a time when most charities are facing severe financial cuts – seems to be a sign of the ideological sources of the PM's position. The position assumes that people are time-rich, and could allocate more time to voluntary work, in addition to earning a living.
This ideology will leave people at the mercy of selective and arbitrary giving by the well-off. No doubt people will help each other in hard times. However, this does not justify the PMs claims of creating a big society – it will only lead to a backward step towards unequal opportunity.
Dr Hakan Seckinelgin
Senior lecturer in international social policy, LSE
• I was disappointed to receive a letter from Richard Benyon MP, minister for natural environment and fisheries, saying the government was abolishing the Inland Waterways Advisory Council, a small quango of volunteers which reports on issues affecting UK waterways.
For example, in 2009 IWAC published a pamphlet written by council members to show how inland waterways can deliver social benefits to young people. In abolishing IWAC one fears government will lose expertise and enthusiasm when discussions about local community engagement are headline news. In the absence of IWAC one would question whether hard-pressed civil servants will have time or knowledge to tackle the questions on IWAC's agenda. Its cost to the taxpayer is less than £200,000 a year, and the minister may find its abolition turns out to have been bad value for money. I ask him to urgently reconsider his decision.
Bob Watson
IWAC member and director of the Sobriety Project
• While the government enjoys its holiday there are many charities and public sector organisations waiting to hear whether their funding will be cut. While we wait, funders are beginning to drop away, discouraging the "big society" the coalition is trying to encourage.
After receiving a provisional agreement from the Department for Education to part-fund a youth centre in 2009, we must now wait until October to hear if we have the money. This seems crazy, when young people have put work into it, and we have external funding for both building and running costs. Nevertheless, we must wait for the government to do the thinking it should have done before the election.
Sandy Hore-Ruthven
Chief executive, Kingswood Foundation