Agenda item

The Panel will receive a presentation from the Chief Executive of Social Enterprise East Midlands.

The Chairman welcomed Mr. Evan Rees, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise East Midlands (SEEM) to the meeting. SEEM has been developed by a partnership of organisations from the community, voluntary, enterprise, government and regional development sectors of the East Midlands. SEEM's role is to work across all sectors to enable social enterprise to develop and grow.

SEEM's aims are:

·         Realising the potential of social enterprises to contribute to addressing public policy goals

·         Realising the potential of social enterprises to contribute to local economic renewal and regeneration

·         Realising the potential of social enterprises to contribute to a more equitable and inclusive regional economy

If a social enterprise were to make a profit, the profit would be locked and used for the good of the local community.

Mr. Rhys explained that a social enterprise is an organisation, which is involved in enterprising activities for social aims with social ownership and democratic principles at its core. Social enterprises can conform to a number of different structures, including community businesses, co-operatives, credit unions, housing associations, voluntary sector organisations and development trusts. Social enterprises can also have a number of different legal statuses, including: company limited by guarantee, company limited by shares, industrial and provident societies, community interest companies, limited liability partnerships or registered charities.

Mr. Rees stated that there were 15,000 social enterprises in the UK, which have contributed £18billion to the UK economy.  Social enterprises employ one in fifty of the private sector workforce and span the size of the agricultural sector three times. Interest in social enterprises has increased because they offer economic inclusion, financial viability for the voluntary and community sectors, locally focussed regeneration, quality services and microeconomic management, ethical consumerism, sustainable development and promote entrepreneurship.

Outcomes of social enterprises have included: a third sector with greater financial stability, communities empowered to manage local services, community direction of regeneration programmes, a kick start for local economies and the encouragement of entrepreneurship, the development of business models which are socially and economically inclusive, the development of community cohesion, a means of meeting the needs of the “ethical consumer” and a sustainable business structure.

Social enterprises can work in any sector. Notable examples include leisure, amenity and sports services; environmental services; community transport and financial services.

Panel members questioned Mr. Rees:

• There were concerns that funding from Europe, like agriculture, would mean subsidies on products and services. The Panel were advised that any European subsidy was used to support the enterprise and fill gaps in the market; social enterprises were reliant on their balance sheet.
• Following questions on regionalisation, Mr. Rees noted comments from the Panel over the importance of recognising rural areas. Panel members were concerned that urban centres including Nottingham, Derby and Leicester would overshadow the needs of rural areas. The rural nature of the East Midlands has meant that it has the lowest number of social enterprises in the country.
• One member asked whether it would be possible to transfer the successful Ealing Transportation Scheme to the East Midlands. This model would not be appropriate to use for an East Midlands scheme because it was aimed at an urban setting. It was suggested that a way to progress this idea would be to follow the Swadlincote model, using grants from the Department of Transport and a local authority partnership to build up networks.
• A question was asked about how community shops could be sustainable in villages without facilities, such as post offices. Projects like this have lower operational margins and are run on a volunteer basis. The focus in these is changed from profit-making to covering overheads.
• SEEM would offer help to potential social entrepreneurs by providing business support, lobbying local government and providing contacts with similar experiences.
• Both the private and voluntary sectors are reliant on skill sets, despite the necessary difference in approach. The emphasis would be on adapting enterprises so that they were suitable for the market.

If the District Council wanted to provide opportunities for social enterprises, the tendering process may need to be structured differently. It may not be possible for a social enterprise to submit a tender for a complete project it might be possible to make a competitive bid for part of a project. The Council would need to identify all barriers that prevent small businesses from submitting tenders. The Corporate Director of Regulatory Services advised the Panel that if they wanted to pursue this, they would need to find out about the existing procurement policy and what would be permitted under the Council’s constitution. There could be the opportunity for SKDC to work in Partnership with SEEM to look at procurement issues.

The Chairman thanked Mr. Rees for his presentation and giving the Panel a lot to consider.