As Government strives to build the Big Society, whilst introducing contestability and choice into the delivery of public services, there is a new emphasis on promoting ‘civil society organisations’ (charities, social enterprises and community organisations) as providers of public services. Many of these are enterprises established by former public sector managers under the 'right to request’ / ‘right to provide’ initiatives, new trading ventures promoted by existing charities or not-for-profit organisations, or community-led initiatives spurred by the new ‘community right to challenge’ or ‘community right to buy’ enshrined in the Localism Act 2011.
We are actively working with charities, social enterprises and employee-led organisations in education, health, social care, leisure, ICT and back-office services to build sustainable new business models for delivery of a wide range of services to the communities they serve. We are also working with ‘right to provide’ entrepreneurs who are seeking to transfer their public services into new social enterprise structures.
We are an approved business consultant to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) on legal and governance issues, and have worked in partnership with NCVO to present legal and commercial workshops and training around the UK.
An introduction to social enterprise:
‘A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners’
The social enterprise model offers a number of advantages for the delivery of public services. Social enterprises are uniquely placed to involve both clients and staff in designing and delivering services, improving quality, and tailoring services to meet service users' needs.
The Coalition Government plans to extend the right to set up a mutual or social enterprise to all public sector workers. Gearing up to target this market often presents providers with some real challenges. We have been working with new providers for many years to help them with:
- Establishing new corporate structures or joint ventures
- Bidding for complex contracts and service transfers
- Dealing with transfers of staff under TUPE and new pension arrangements
- Putting in place new funding arrangements
If you are new to this field, check out this introductory podcast from the Guardian.
Social Enterprise, Mutuals and Spinning out: A guide In Finance Event
On 6 April TPP's Managing Director, Mark Johnson, was a guest speaker at this one day event organised and hosted by Neil Stewart Associates. The event was one in a series of events focusing on mutuals, spinning-out and social enterprise. Click here to read the article.
Click here to download our Social Care brochure
