The future of social enterprise: a contradictory agenda for change

The following is an agenda for change – drawing on the ideas of our interviewees and offering thoughts on what could help or hinder social enterprise development. Many of the suggestions are contradictory. Yet, as we have established, these contradictions could be key in debates on the future of social enterprise. We suggest that clarity over where there is potential for disagreement can only help start and inform those debates. For this reason, a wide range of potential actions have been presented below.

Actions for NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

• • define social enterprises (or particular sub-types of social enterprises like employee-owned businesses or social firms) in order to provide tax breaks or other incentives to their formation and growth;

• • withdraw from influencing the social enterprise definition debate and allow the sector itself to define or not define itself as it wishes;

• • change the laws around financial institutions to allow the credit union movement to expand;

• • make it easier to set up businesses using community shares, or a combination of community shares and private investment;

• • go further than the current Social Value Act in requiring local government to contract on the basis of broader concepts of value than lowest cost or financial measures of best value;

• • provide funding for business support that helps start-ups and developing organisations in a way that takes into consideration that some businesses might trade for a social purpose;

• • take a more active stance in ensuring the beneficial impact on society and environment of all businesses – whether social enterprises or not.

Actions for LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• • involve social enterprises in the commissioning of public services to make sure good ideas in the third sector are acknowledged and promoted through public sector choices;

• • learn from the development processes of existing successful social enterprises, rather than re-inventing the wheel, spinning out their own versions;

• • promote the assessment of broader concepts of value in all of their contractors, particularly learning from the example of social enterprises.

Actions for INFRASTRUCTURE ORGANISATIONS (networks, membership and lobbying groups)

• • lobby for opportunities to contract for public services;

• • get closer to existing mainstream businesses and promote partnerships and exchanges of talent and ideas;

• • lobby for better social enterprise education in schools and higher education;