'In this general election year the Social Enterprise Coalition manifesto lays out a number of ways in which the next government can help social enterprise achieve its aim to significantly increase both its contribution to GDP and its impact on the lives of individuals and communities across the UK'
Peter Holbrook (pictured), CEO of the Social Enterprise Coalition, which published its manifesto today
The Social Enterprise Coalition officially launched its manifesto today with a call for government to help social enterprises increase their contribution to the UK's economy by three times over the next ten years.
No More Business as Usual - a Social Enterprise Manifesto, developed in collaboration with social enterprises across the UK, aims to raise the profile of social enterprise in the run up to the next general election and promote them as a more accountable and sustainable business model.
The coalition's CEO Peter Holbrook said social enterprises needed the 'right support' to increase their social and economic impact.
'This is a crucial time for the social enterprise movement - as the UK emerges from recession the public demands, and deserves, a fairer and more sustainable economy. Social enterprise can help to achieve this, but we need the right support.
'In this general election year the Social Enterprise Coalition manifesto lays out a number of ways in which the next government can help social enterprise achieve its aim to significantly increase both its contribution to GDP and its impact on the lives of individuals and communities across the UK.'
The manifesto states the policy framework needed to reach its 2020 target is 'ambitious'.
It calls for 'a strong and clear' package of tax breaks to encourage social investment, laws to help communities buy and run their own assets, and routine collection of information on the social enterprise movement.
It says current public service commissioning 'stifles innovation' and that social outcomes should to be part of procurement decisions. It also suggests environmental public bodies such as British Waterways and the Environment Agency should be turned into social enterprises.
It also calls for a 'community allowance' which would enable unemployed people to be paid for community work without their benefits being reduced, helping to 'break the cycle of dependency'.
The manifesto wants to see greater government support and investment in more locally-tailored employment practices to build on the work of the £1bn Future Jobs Fund, as reported in Social Enterprise earlier this month.
To finance this social innovation, the manifesto renews the coalition's support for a social investment wholesale bank and the introduction of legislation similar to the US Community Reinvestment Act, which forces banks to invest in their communities. It also calls upon the government to develop social impact bonds.
The coalition's manifesto mirrors some aspects of a manifesto published last week by the Social Entrepreneurship Policy Group, such as support for social enterprises creating sustainable employment and local community assets.
Holbrook added: 'We fully support the Social Entrepreneurship Policy Group's manifesto. Government has a key role to play in creating the conditions for social entrepreneurs to thrive, and would be well advised to take the recommendations in this manifesto seriously.'
To read the full manifesto, download it below or visit www.socialenterprise.org.uk
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Comments
How Social Enterprises can meet ambitious targets
Nice post, Gemma. Social Enterprises may also have other channels available to them, in order to meet the ambitious targets called for in the Manifesto. At The Social Investment Consultancy (www.tsiconsultancy.com) we’re releasing groundbreaking results in March into new fundraising approaches for charities and social enterprises that will particularly appeal to high net worth individuals.