Thought Leadership

If you were asked to picture our health system you’d probably think of hospitals, GP practices, ambulances and care homes. What you probably wouldn’t think about are gyms, childcare, woodland adventures and supermarkets. In Salford, Greater Manchester, one social enterprise is radically changing how a community can address health inequalities through redefining what is possible when it comes to the delivery of care. It is doing this through genuinely placing communities at the heart of their work, thinking outside the box, setting up businesses to create a sustainable source of income and genuine employee ownership. Getting closer to the issues Social adVentures was set up in 2011, part of a wave of organisations which ‘spun-out’ of the public sector following the Government’s Right to Request programme which encouraged the creation of public sector mutuals. Founder Scott Darraugh and the rest of the team believed that moving out of formal NHS structure would allow them to be more innovative and closer to the issues faced by the people they are set up to support. Since taking these first steps they’ve not looked back. Social adVentures is a social enterprise embedded in the local community being co-owned by staff and local people. This has allowed for the co-design and co-production of services, allowing service users to have a voice in decision making and giving staff more autonomy to make decisions and come up with their own solutions. Its core mission is to enable people to live healthy lives and it started off as part of NHS Salford in the public health unit running community programmes including learning disabilities and mental health services. Since setting up as an independent social enterprise they’ve expanded on this to win a series of contracts including a partnership delivering social prescribing services in Salford. This involves working closely with partners in the public sector and the VCSE community to sign-post individuals to the most relevant services with an emphasis on preventative care. Funding services through setting up social enterprises “anybody that comes through that front door of this place is made welcome, dealt with in a sympathetic manner, made to feel human again” – Garden Needs participant Alongside public health and social care contracts Social adVentures runs a series of social enterprises, the surpluses from which not only fund services but which are themselves a vital part of increasing community health and wellbeing. These include day nurseries, a community garden, a community gym, forest school training and a social supermarket based at the organisation’s HQ, the Angel Centre – a complex which runs a series of programmes, classes and events from work placements, counselling and coaching to services around quitting smoking and drinking. Every individual business is dedicated to making a difference to help enable people to live healthy lives. An example is Garden Needs, a mental health contract delivered by Social adVentures from their community garden which provides around 2028 hours of support to adults with mental health conditions every year – bringing people together, building confidence and helping people manage their own mental health. The delivery of early years care fits into the social enterprises’ ethos of looking at the causes of ill health and coming up with solutions to deal with them. Joining the dots between the prohibitive costs of childcare, unemployment and mental health – the nurseries offer free childcare for those who need it and also provide opportunities for work though Social adVentures apprenticeship programme. Currently the social enterprise runs four childcare settings under the brand Kids adVentures. They also run forest schools, allowing children to build a connection with nature and improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Transforming a café into a supermarket “It has been fantastic to be given the opportunity to grow the Food Collective from scratch and to implement my own ideas. There’s no barrier to making changes that you think will work in your area of the business and that means you feel trusted and valued - Dale Finney Retail Assistant at the Food Collective A major part of their work tackling health inequalities revolves around the addressing food poverty and during the pandemic the Social adVentures team created a food club with the support of food poverty charity, Fareshare, working with their school to provide food parcels to vulnerable people in their community and those who were shielding. Prior to the pandemic, one of Social adVentures most popular ventures was a community café run out of the Angel Centre but this had to close when the country went into lockdown. Staff decided that this space could be transformed into a social supermarket to act as a permanent hub to provide affordable, fresh food for the local community and to support the food club. Social adVentures shows how a social enterprises embedded in its communitycan work across sectors to link up care and join up the dots when it comes to recognising and dealing with cause of ill health. What’s more they are showing how the freedom that comes with being an independent social enterprise can allow both staff and members of the community to come up with genuinely innovative ideas, such as turning a café into a supermarket. Through setting up social enterprises under the Social adVentures umbrella such as the nurseries, community garden and a gym, they have created a degree of financial stability rare in the public sector. Remarkably nearly half of all the money coming into the business is through trading income. socialadventures.org.uk

May 18 2022 A new report by Social Value 2032 and authored by Professor Chris White – former Member of Parliament and author of the Social Value Act – has found that smarter public sector procurement could unleash an extra £56bn per year in social value which could be used to level up the country, tackle Net Zero and strengthen communities. Social Value 2032 is a new partnership and programme of work delivered by PwC, Shaw Trust, Siemens, Suez recycling and recovery UK and overseen by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK). Ten years after the passage of the Social Value Act, which places an obligation on public bodies to consider the wider economic, social and environmental impact of the services they commission and procure, this partnership has launched a new report: Social Value 2032: Creating a Social Value Economy. The report outlines a new vision for social value, a way of using procurement to create added social, economic and environmental impact through spending by public bodies and private companies. Social Enterprise UK has analysed the past decade of public spending and found that the UK public sector is only realising a fraction of the benefits that could be generated through greater embedding of social value. The analysis found that between 2010 and 2020 an estimated £36bn could have been generated through social value in public sector procurement. An estimated £762bn could have been generated if social value had been implemented universally across the public sector from day one of the Social Value Act.   Using this figure SEUK estimates that there is £56bn of social value that could be unlocked by the public sector annually – equivalent to double the UK Government’s current commitment to Net Zero. As the Government looks to level up the country, this new report identifies a major ‘quick win’ to use existing public sector spending to reduce inequalities and transition to a green economy. Alongside this, the report calls on the UK’s largest businesses to adopt a social value approach to working with the public sector. The report, published at the Social Value Leaders’ Summit in Birmingham on 18 May, outlines a new vision for procurement focused on: Systems-change: using procurement to create better and more sustainable businesses and markets in the UK.Transformative public services: focused on long-term prevention and innovation.Environmental sustainability: considering not just the social impact of how we spend money but also the environmental impact. Realising this vision for the UK will: Deliver levelling up faster through smarter use of public and private investment.Make British business stronger through promoting long term investment and sustainability.Create stronger communities through greater partnership between places, businesses and government.Help the UK take advantage of the growing market for environmentally sustainable products.Make the UK the world leader in measuring social and environmental impact generating billions in service exports. Download the full report Download the report summary

15 May 2022 Commenting on Big Society Capital’s response to the Commission on Social Investment, Peter Holbrook CBE, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK said: “Social enterprises will support Big Society Capital’s decision to cut its target rate of return, an issue which has been raised over many years as part of the reason that our cost of capital is expensive relative to other businesses. This is a positive step forward and a big win for the Commission on Social Investment. We hope the benefits from this change will be passed down to social enterprises in lower cost finance.” “We are disappointed, however, that Big Society Capital has chosen not to accept the Commission’s recommendation to put social enterprises at the heart of its mission. They are right to say that they only have limited funds to make a difference, but this is even more of a reason to target helping social enterprises to grow rather than spending their resources thinly.” “Ultimately, as the Commission said, we should trust social entrepreneurs. Growing social enterprise is the most effective way to tackle homelessness, climate change, health and wellbeing or any of the many issues that Britain faces.” “Social Enterprise UK also urges Big Society Capital to look again at providing investment into a black-led social investment intermediary and fund. It has taken a creative approach to financing developments in the social investment market in the past. Given the obvious discrimination against black-led social enterprises in the market, Big Society Capital must take responsibility. There is no legal restriction on Big Society Capital using grants or creating a blended funding package including grants, equity and debt. We must not allow squeamishness about grants to block efforts to advance social justice.” You can read Big Society Capitals response to the findings of the Commission on Social Investing in this piece featured in Pioneers Post.

12 May 2022 Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) has appointed five new Board members following a rigorous recruitment process. SEUK’s Chair Lord Victor Adebowale CBE commented: ‘SEUK’s new Board members will add complementary abilities and experience to an already strong Board and ensure we have the best possible mix of skills in our boardroom. ‘Social enterprise has significant potential to improve our society, but this potential is being held back by issues such as lack of access to social investment, at a time of greater demand for support from local communities. I look forward to working with the Board and the SEUK team to support, enable and champion the social enterprise sector, to unleash the potential for the fairer and more inclusive society that social enterprise can offer.’ The five new Board members will be formally appointed at the next SEUK Board meeting on 12 May 2022, and will join an experienced Board who have steered the organisation, and supported the social enterprise movement, through the pandemic. SEUK Chief Executive Peter Holbrook added: ‘We are delighted to have been able to appoint five such experienced and respected leaders, drawn from across the diverse and dynamic social enterprise community, to join the SEUK Board.   ‘I look forward to working with them to take SEUK’s ambitious strategy forward and support our members to flourish despite the profound economic and social shocks the UK is currently navigating, and the continuing climate emergency. The social enterprise sector is proving resilient so far but now more than ever we need to ensure social enterprise can power out of the pandemic period and play its part in building a fairer society in which everyone can thrive.’ The new board members are: Amy Denro – Multi award-winning social CEO and co-founder of groundbreaking social supermarket HISBE Food. Chris Luck CB, MBE – Senior leader, former Air Vice Marshall and now CEO of the Shaw Trust Group, the UK’s largest employment sector non-profit. Devi Clark – Experienced leader, strategist and coach and Managing Director of the influential Impact Hub King’s Cross (IHKX). Patricia Keiko Hamzahee – Former investment banker and co-founder and Director of the Black Funding Network and Extend Ventures. Advising and championing social enterprises’ access to funding. Sarah McIntosh - Social purpose membership organisation expert and Executive Director of Membership and Delivery at Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)

March 2022 This webinar, held by the Fair Tax Foundation team went through the benefits of gaining the Fair Tax Mark and how it can contribute to the goals of social enterprises. The Fair Tax Mark accreditation scheme seeks to encourage and recognise businesses that pay the right amount of corporate income tax at the right time and in the right place. It is the gold standard of responsible tax conduct. As with Fairtrade and the real Living Wage, businesses can take the lead by voluntarily showing commitment to best practice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myrWaDL3aKM

23 March 2022 Peter Holbrook CBE, Chief Executive, Social Enterprise UK said: “There is some good news in the Spring Statement today for social enterprises, with increases in Employment Allowance which will help social enterprises to continue to successfully create meaningful jobs, and the Chancellor’s VAT-cut on energy saving materials which will help strengthen the growing green social enterprise sector.” “The Chancellor set out the need for more investment in people, ideas and capital – exactly what the UK’s social enterprises are so effective at delivering. But instead of recognising the need to reform the private sector, he is cutting tax and hoping that business will do the right thing. All the evidence shows that it is not a lack of generous tax support which is holding our economy back, it is the short-termism of business and finance.” “SEUK will engage closely with HM Government on its proposals to reform our tax system to help businesses grow and we will champion social enterprises. But tax cuts are not a substitute for a plan to reform the economy. This is the case that social enterprises will keep making in the months ahead.” 

March 2022 This webinar was hosted by Berkeley Wilde, Executive Director, The Diversity Trust CIC. Berkeley talked about how the Diversity Trust works, outlining the journey the organisation has been on over the last two years, the impact of Covid-19 and the global awakening of Black Lives Matter and the impact this has had in the UK. Listen to the recording below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMuQaNgpoQE

8 March 2022 Leading businesses and social enterprises have announced a new programme of work to accelerate and expand the consideration of social value in public and private sector procurement. This programme has been announced on the 10th Anniversary of the passage of the Social Value Act, a world-leading law which requires public bodies to consider social and environmental impact when making procurement decisions. “Social Value 2032: Shaping the Future of Social Value” will be led by Professor Chris White, former Member of Parliament and author of the Social Value Act. The programme will be delivered by Social Enterprise UK supported by a coalition of companies at the forefront of the social value agenda including PwC, Siemens, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and Shaw Trust.Since 2010, the estimated value of annual spend where social value has been considered in the award of the contract, has increased from £25bn to £100bn. However, despite quadrupling the amount of spending which is influenced by social and environmental factors, this is still only a third of annual Public Sector procurement spend. The programme will consider how social value can be expanded to cover all public sector procurement and go beyond this, influencing the spending of the UK’s largest companies. If this was achieved, it would unlock billions of investment in new low carbon products; creating thousands of employment and training opportunities and see millions of pounds reinvested back into providing social, environmental and cultural infrastructure for communities. Social Value 2032 will provide a new vision for social value at the Social Value Leaders Summit on 18th May 2022, taking place this year in Birmingham. Later in the year, the programme will unveil a “Social Value Roadmap” on the changes needed to enable the 100% target to be hit in the public sector and largest private sector companies by 2032 in time for the Act’s 20th anniversary. Speaking about the launch of the programme, Professor Chris White, author of the Social Value Act and programme lead, said: “I am proud of the role that I played with Social Enterprise UK in getting the Social Value Act through Parliament and encouraging public bodies and businesses to think about the social and environmental impact of their spending. But a lot has changed in ten years, from Net Zero to the renewed focus on reducing inequality in our society. Social value needs to adapt and accelerate to meet those new challenges.” “The fact that we have a coalition of leading companies and social enterprises in social value gives me confidence that there is more that we can do to spread the influence of social value to ensure that every part of the public sector and our biggest businesses maximise the social and environmental impact of their spending.” “The UK has been a world leader on this agenda since we introduced the Act but we cannot rest on our laurels. I hope that working together with these leading businesses and social enterprises, we can show how social value can provide practical help in the race to Net Zero and to level up the country.”     Speaking on behalf of programme partner PwC, Nancy Park said: “Delivering Social Value is strongly aligned to our purpose here at PwC.  Our responsible business framework informs the decisions that we make, the engagements we accept and the advice we give to our clients. Increasingly our public and private sector clients want to find out how they can have greater positive social and environmental impact.” “We take social value into account in all our spend as well as in our recruitment and deployment and strategic decision making.  These are key ways that we can achieve positive social and environmental impact. We are delighted to be part of this programme of work and to be able to contribute our expertise to the future of social value.” Chris Luck CB MBE, Chief Executive of Shaw Trust, a leading charity social enterprise and programme partner said: “Social value is at the heart of everything we do as a social-enterprise model charity, and we have been pioneers in utilizing social value since the Act was introduced ten years ago. Through our ‘charitable heart with a business brain’ approach, we have seen the benefits to our service-users and communities when social value is done well, but we need to do more to ensure that commissioning and procurement maximises the opportunities of social value. In particular, we need to ensure that social value supports the work of social enterprises, like ours, who work every penny to generate benefits for society.” “Accelerating and expanding the use of social value will create new challenges. For that reason, I believe it is important for Shaw Trust to be a partner and contribute our experience of using social value in practice to deliver high-quality public services.” John Scanlon, Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, programme partner said: “At SUEZ we are clear that our activities must benefit more than the bottom line and social value forms a core part of our business strategy. In 2020 we created £1.98 billion in social value, up from £1.55 billion in 2019. This value is not just a number, it reflects the benefits from our work delivering essential services around the UK. Social value matters to people and communities and that’s why it matters to us.” “We’re passionate about sharing our experiences to support our customers and peers in using social value effectively, and we’re looking forward to learning from others about their work, to help us move forward on our social value journey.” Dietmar Harteveld, Head of Supply Chain Management, EMEA of Siemens, programme partner said: “Siemens is proud to be part of this programme and to support efforts to make business sustainable. We have put in place our DEGREE framework to decarbonize our business, ensure high standards of ethics and equity as well as improve our resource efficiency and the employability of our staff.” “Social value is an important tool in realizing our aspirations and we are proud to be part of this programme which will consider what more can be done to get business to contribute to making our society better and greener.” “Siemens has been at the forefront of improving our procurement to ‘Buy Social’ and develop new partnerships with social enterprises and SMEs to increase the social and environmental impact of our business. We look forward to working with our partners to expand the opportunities for social value in supply chains across the public and private sectors.”