UK: social enterprise action plan released

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, joined Cabinet Office Ministers Hilary Armstrong and Ed Miliband in launching the Government’s Social Enterprise Action Plan: Scaling new heights (Cabinet Office 2006) on 17 November 2006. Social enterprises are firms founded for a social or environmental purpose, reinvesting their profits for that purpose in the company or the community, changing people’s lives for the better everyday. There are at least 55,000 social enterprises in the UK ? including well known success stories like The Big Issue or Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen ? and today’s plan aims to open the door to thousands more. The plan aims to raise awareness of what they can achieve and encourage more people make a difference, either by involvement or investment. The action plan will drive change in four areas: * embedding the cultural change that is already underway, especially through inspiring the next generation to start thinking about the social impact of business * improving advice and support available to start?up and growing social enterprises * tackling the barriers in access to finance that restrict the growth of social enterprises * enabling social enterprises to work effectively with government in pursuit of common goals. The Action Plan builds on the first 2002 Government strategy, Social Enterprise, a strategy for success (DTI 2002). Commenting on the Government’s social enterprise action plan, the Social Enterprise Coalition’s chief executive Jonathan Bland, said: “We welcome the Government’s social enterprise action plan. It responds to our calls for Government to recognise social enterprise as a mainstream business model and tackles some of the issues holding back the growth of the sector such as access to finance and appropriate business support.” “In addition, we are encouraged by the Government’s aim to foster a culture of full information about social enterprise, which could help to encourage both a wave of new entrants into social enterprise and wider support for the movement.” “The plan must now be followed through with changes to the procurement framework under the forthcoming public service action plan and an indication of provisions for social enterprise in pre-budget report.”