The national body for social enterprise have outlined recommendations to the Government to build on the Social Value Act – a new law which comes into force today – which calls on public bodies in England and Wales to commission services from organisations that create ‘social value’ in communities when delivering contracts.

The Act, tabled by Chris White MP and campaigned for by Social Enterprise UK, asks that commissioners use their purchasing power to achieve social and environmental benefits alongside financial efficiency.

Chris White MP is today hosting a roundtable with senior social sector leaders to discuss how the Act can be properly implemented.

Social Enterprise UK’s recommendations to strengthen the Act include:

• Creating social value should be a legal requirement of all public service contracts
• The Act should be extended to apply to the purchasing of goods and works as well as services
• The Act should be supported with Statutory Guidance so that it can be effectively implemented

(Recommendations outlined in Social Enterprise UK’s Shadow State Report issued December ).

• We’re creating dozens of new social enterprises in Lancashire..

• That’s hundreds of new jobs..

• In a £600,000 support, mentoring and advice programme..

• Social Enterprise experts brought together by Selnet, backed by the European Regional Development Fund and in partnership with Regenerate Pennine Lancashire

• introducing Lancashire’s Next Big Thing programme..

• Because BIG economic problems need BIG solutions!

Find out more at www.setnet-uk.com

Register your interest now

or call 01772 200690

For each step of the way we show you:

• What it is
• Why do it
• How to do it

This tool encourages you to take a positive ‘can do’ attitude to trading. We believe that everyone can generate and grow new business ideas. Using this tool will help you develop your entrepreneurial skills.

Of course one size doesn’t fit all, so we are here every step of the way to give you specialist, tailored support for your own unique journey.

http://www.valonline.org.uk/trading-journey

All full responses will be entered in a raw to receive a £30 voucher redeemable in a wide range of high street shops.

The closing date for the draw is the 17^th of January (that gives you about 10 days).

It should only take a few minutes. The link is: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1126528/NLSE-Survey-2013

“For a proposal recently the charity wanted to understand the risks for them as a small charity in moving to a social enterprise model. It made me think and here is what I wrote.
In our experience of working with numerous charities of any size moving to a social enterprise model the key risks are:

•   Mission creep – the organisation chases cash rather than keeping focused on achieving its mission and this results in confusion and disillusion within staff and volunteers which can result in low productivity, loss of key staff and lack of synergy with the charitable work of the organisation
•   Failure to identify clear goals and set clear guidelines about the resources to be used for the social enterprise, which is social and which is enterprise – in short when is something free and when charged. This can upset and confuse users and staff and volunteers
•   Unrealistic expectations about the speed of income generation and profitability – this can mean cash flow problems and the charity unexpectedly subsidising the social enterprise
•   Lack of commercial/entrepreneurial attitude – there is a need to constantly be looking for opportunities and adapting as the market changes. This is natural to charities but often less so in their more commercial activities where they can lack confidence in their commercial judgement so stay with the original plan even when it isn’t working
•   Poor sales and marketing – most small charities don’t have a marketing department and don’t have a marketing mindset. However good the offer it will need to be marketed and sold, this is more than promotion and an area which is often a risk is pricing where small organisations lack the confidence to price highly enough and make insufficient margin. There can also be confusion on the target market which often is not the same as for the charity

All these risks need to be managed and the more planning and thinking you do before you act  the more likely you are to be successful because you can work out how to manage the risks before they occur. Obviously a feasibility study will manage expectations on income and the speed you can grow , and a business plan will helpe with clarity on vision and the operational and marketing issues.”

Pilotlight and Social Enteprise UK are offering a free guide called “Why Social Enterprise? A Guide for Charities”.

The new free guide has been published in response to a call from the charitable sector for information and advice on how to become a social enterprise as they look for ways to deal with an environment of diminishing funding. Social enterprises are organisations that trade for a social and/or environmental purpose.

It is estimated that there are more than 68,000 social enterprises in the UK, and they contribute at least £24 billion to the economy. These numbers are expected to increase as social investment takes off and the Public Services (Social Value) Act comes into force in January 2013. It is hoped the Act will create more trading opportunities for charities and social enterprises providing public services.

Charities that are considering becoming a social enterprise will find this new guide helpful as it covers a range of different topics, including the important one of legal structures. They may be heartened to learn that it is not always necessary for charities to change their legal structure. In fact, some social enterprises remain as registered charities. The guide also explains where charities can trade without structural change and where they will need to set up trading companies. The guide discusses the need to have a robust business plan in place.

Pilotlight’s Deputy Chief Executive Gillian Murray, who launched the guide said:

“In the past twelve months we have seen a significant increase in interest from our partner charities about becoming a social enterprise. With the cuts in local authority funding and changes in the way charities’ services are being commissioned it’s no surprise that charities are exploring the opportunities social enterprise can offer. We hope this free, practical guide will provide them with clear information so that they can make an informed decision.”

Social Enterprise UK CEO Peter Holbrook said:

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Pilotlight on this topic- it’s vital that we secure the future sustainability and social impact of our charities. Lots of information and know-how needs to be changing hands across the social economy as we deal with the economic and environmental changes we face. Many charities can have a greater social impact if they trade and reinvest their profits. Some of the most successful social enterprises in the UK today started life as small charities.”

Download the guide here

Pilotlight is a charity that brokers free business coaching to small charities and social enterprises to help them grow and become more sustainable.

Source: Pilotlight, 17/10/2012

In recent decades, social enterprise activities that aim to combine environmental and social benefits have been particularly centred around employment creation and work experience initiatives targeted at disadvantaged groups and communities. Sustainable waste and resource management constitutes the largest sector of the green social economy and, as such, has received the most systematic attention. Other activities include nature conservation, community-based renewable energy, sustainable housing, transport, food production and distribution, and environmental education and awareness raising.

Issues and challenges identified in the recent policy literature relate to the financially precarious nature of social enterprise operations, the dynamic and increasingly competitive nature of the markets involved, the obstacles to scaling-up and potential adverse consequences of this, and the difficulties involved in assessing environmental as well as social impacts. Other academic literature examines entrepreneurship and innovation that is motivated by environmental and social/ethical concerns. Entrepreneurial actors, with their propensity for innovation, experimentation and risk taking, are identified by these authors as the driving force of a sustainable society, although with the co-operation of governmental actors.

In conclusion, social enterprises, with their (in the main) local focus and concern with community engagement, are seen as integral to the advancement of environmental and social innovation in support of sustainability.

Click here for the full report and more information.

Source: LCRN newsletter

Charities and voluntary organisations are not doing enough to prioritise the views and needs of beneficiaries when considering partnership working, a new report suggests.

Partnership Working, published today by the Third Sector Research Centre, says service users’ views are too often being excluded when objectives for partnership are being set or assessed for impact.

It says partnerships are driven more by financial pressures than the needs of beneficiaries.

The publication is based on assessments of five sample areas, including housing association mergers and the formation of an association between two large, unnamed charities.

It concludes that organisations considering partnership to deliver public services should move away from an emphasis on economies of scale and give greater priority to economies of scope.

Researchers also found that voluntary partnerships were more likely to be successful because they were better at fostering trust between partners.

“Our conclusion would be that while there is theoretically no necessary conflict between competition and collaboration, in practice partnerships have tended to work more effectively when they are underpinned by voluntary, trust-based relationships rather than by imposed or mandated partnership forms or by competitive arrangements that undermine trust,” it says.

James Rees, co-author of the report, said: “There is widespread recognition in public and third sector organisations that we all need to get smarter about the way we do things. But there remains significant uncertainty about the type of partnership arrangement that is likely to be successful.

“The private sector might be better at doing some types of partnership because of the single bottom line, but public services deliver multiple bottom lines. Trust, user engagement, co-production and relationship approaches are needed to deliver value in these spheres.”

Source: LCRN newsletter

The heads of 14 voluntary sector bodies have urged the government to do more to encourage commissioners to consider charities when commissioning public services.

The letter, signed by voluntary sector leaders including Sir Stuart Etherington, chief exeuctive of the NCVO, Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, and Joe Irvin, chief executive of Navca, has been sent to Sajid Javid, economic secretary to the treasury.

The move came before today’s meeting at the Treasury between Javid and representatives from sector bodies including the NCVO, the Institute of Fundraising and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.

The letter says: “Too often, decisions taken early on by commissioners effectively preclude our sector from bidding for contracts.”

It says ministers must build upon improvements such as a planned new commissioning academy the Public Services (Social Value) Act, which says commissioners must consider the social value of bids for contracts; the act is expected to enhance the voluntary sector’s prospects of winning.

“National and local commissioners need more encouragement and support to engage with the sector,” the letter says. “This engagement with the sector is best done at the earliest stages of the commissioning process: to share information about needs and gaps in current provision and explore potential service design and delivery options before these are specified during procurement.

“Not only do we know that many larger voluntary organisations can deliver at the necessary scale but, increasingly, we know that smaller and medium-sized organisations are looking to come together as consortia in order to bid for public service contracts. If engaged appropriately in the commissioning process, we would anticipate more organisations mobilising in this way.”

The letter calls for more government support for giving initiatives such as the Legacy10 campaign and for easier access for sector organisations to loan finance.

It also asks for “new measures to alleviate regulatory and tax burdens on social enterprises, in order to facilitate their growth”.

Source: LCRN newsletter