Is the British Government letting a good idea go to waste?

In a keynote speech made by British Prime Minister, David Cameron in July, he proposed that social enterprise would form a crucial part of his new vision for society. Mr. Cameron said: "...We've got to give professionals much more freedom, and open up public services to new providers like charities, social enterprises and private companies so we get more innovation, diversity and responsiveness to public need… We need to create communities with oomph - neighborhoods who are in charge of their own destiny, who feel if they club together and get involved they can shape the world around them." This sounded very promising for social enterprises in the UK.

Despite Mr. Cameron's rhetoric on The Big Society, in July the government announced £11 million of spending cuts to the department responsible for social enterprise. The Office for Civil Society had its 2010/11 budget cut to £136.9 million, down from £147.9 million. However over the past months I have continued to look for evidence of the government's commitment to social enterprise. News of such developments has been thin on the ground though. With spending cuts in education, and the 'streamlining' of the welfare state, there have been far juicer headlines for the press and little talk of social enterprise. One interesting development though is the launch of Think! Research and Consulting. This is described as one of the first in a new generation of 'think-and-do' tanks. The organization is attempting to blur the divide between research and practical action, and to work in new ways that go beyond the typical client-consultant relationship. Apparently clients will include frontline social enterprises as well as those agencies that sit behind and support the frontline - national government, local public authorities, and third sector intermediaries, funders, and investors.

This new consultancy is certainly needed, and should be welcomed by the agencies it seeks to serve. In a recent blog post Peter Holbrook, CEO of Social Enterprise Coalition - the UK's national body for social enterprise, argues a strong case for social enterprise leading the way in public and social services. He suggests that although there are good organizations that will suffer due to cuts, there are also many, which have become dependent upon times of big government spending. He proposes that massive state contracts have bred a 'culture of over-dependency' and goes on to argue that organizations such as these could learn a lot from strong, adaptable social enterprises; which are delivering social good while maintaining financial independence.

So here is another great argument in support of social enterprise. However there is also a very important extra factor that Peter Holbrook highlights in his article. There is far too little funding for these envisaged transitions to social enterprise. Considering that the government considers that are meant to be saving our society they have done little to ensure there is sufficient start-up capital to make this commitment tangible. Mr. Holbrook says: 'The government's £100M transition funding is all well and good but what we really need is an enterprise fund for small and medium-sized charities that can be supported to find their socially entrepreneurial inner-selves. They need support from their social enterprise peers to find new ways to generate income and profit while achieving their social and environmental purpose along the way.' Mr. Cameron may say social enterprise is part of a "powerful idea" for future, but without sufficient financial commitment from the government, an idea is all it will ever be.

Photo credit: World Economic Forum