Role of Social Enterprises in delivering for children and young people in our society. The NCB highlights the opportunities and challenges for this sector in being effective vehicles for addressing key issues affecting the future of our society.
Responding to the needs of a changing sector
The introduction of the Every Child Matters framework is providing a new set of challenges for voluntary and community sector service providers. The new commissioning framework is moving away from grants and placing a greater emphasis on contracts.
In an increasingly competitive environment, commissioners are seeking to contract services to those organisations that can best fulfil the requirements of the Every Child Matters agenda and provide evidence of achieving the five Every Child Matters outcomes.
VCS Engage, a programme funded by the Department for Children Schools and Families, has been developed in order to help voluntary and community sector organisations overcome the challenges of a rapidly changing environment. Whilst many voluntary and community sector organisations are already responding very effectively to these changes, there may still be some benefit in exploring the social enterprise model.
Social enterprises, which combine a business-like approach with an emphasis on measuring social benefit, appear well placed to meet the challenges of delivering services for children, young people and families.
The voluntary and community sector is unique in it’s ability to deliver innovative, community-based, needs-focussed services, and there is a need for commissioners to better understand and appreciate what the voluntary and community sector can bring to the table.
However, the social enterprise approach can offer benefits for both parties and with the right information, voluntary and community sector organisations can begin to make important choices about their organisations and how they might move forward.
Social enterprise and the VCS – ‘What’s in it for them’
Adopting the social enterprise model can help organisations to move away from a dependency culture and a reliance on grants to sustain their services. In a commissioning environment that is starting to move away from grant funding, this may help organisations to gain a competitive advantage.
However, there is some perceived tension within the sector between profit and primary purpose, and a common misconception is that the model can detract from the “real work” of voluntary and community sector organisations.
In reality, at the very heart of the social enterprise, is the idea that goods or services are traded for public benefit. The profit generated through the trade of products and services is ploughed back into the organisation, helping to improve or extend existing services as well as providing funds for the development of new ones.
Some voluntary and community sector organisations expressed concerns about the adverse reaction of funders - if organisations are reinvesting surplus, why would they need additional funding from external agencies?
However, research shows that social enterprises are taken seriously by funders, who see them as effective business models. Many funders actually prefer the social enterprise approach because of the commitment to social benefit rather than profit.
It is true, however, that more needs to be done to educate service commissioners about the benefits of social enterprise and the ethos of surplus. Millmead Children’s Centre* is a social enterprise providing an integrated approach to children’s services within a socially excluded area. Frances Rehal, Director of Millmead, states that; “the governance understanding is purely at the top of the organisation. Our challenge is to cultivate the soil across the board so that people can understand what social enterprise is about”.
There is at present a new emphasis within local authorities on giving end-users a greater say in the planning and delivery of services. When inspectors assess the progress of local areas, they will take the views of children, young people and families into account. Organisations that can provide evidence of user-involvement are likely to gain favour with service commissioners.
Community Campus 87* demonstrate how their services are led by the needs and interests of the young people and how this in turn helps them to be more responsive to the needs of the wider community.
Community Campus 87 provides housing accommodation for young homeless people. They run a key skills project with properties being renovated by young people, who, as well as being housed, receive training and qualifications. The young people participating in these projects are actively involved in developing and submitting bids for funding.
Lawrence McAnelly, Development Manager at Community Campus 87 states that; “this level of activity and input represents a very real opportunity not only to improve, shape and develop services we already provide, but to identify gaps and areas for future development.”
Sandwell Community Caring Trust (SCCT), a social enterprise that provides a range of services for children and young people with learning and/or physical disabilities, believe they have created an organisational culture that has had a significant impact not only on the staff but also on the quality of services they deliver. Since adopting the social enterprise model, SCCT have significantly reduced their staff turnover and in 2006 they were awarded second place in the Sunday Times ‘100 best companies to work for’. SCCT state that this level of staff satisfaction was clearly reflected in quality of care provided, with long-term employees being able to develop strong, long-term relationships with service users.
VCS Engage supports VCS organisations’ learning about social enterprise
One of the key roles of VCS Engage is to give voluntary and community sector organisations the information to allow them to make important choices about their organisations and how they might move forward.
VCS Engage is holding a national conference on social enterprise on November 15. The event is designed to help voluntary and community sector organisations gain a better understanding about social enterprise and it’s role in delivering services for children, young people and families.
Delegates will hear keynote addresses from Kevin Brennan, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Children, Schools and Families as well representatives from local government and the Social Enterprise Coalition.
A range of seminars and workshops will explore what social enterprise is, how it works, and how adopting the social enterprise model may offer significant advantages for voluntary and community sector service providers. It will also provide helpful advice and top tips for developing social enterprise solutions.
To find out more about the conference, log onto www.vcsengage.org.uk
