insights
How social entrepreneurs and public bodies can collaborate for success
How social entrepreneurs and public bodies can collaborate for success
Written by
Jane Ryall
Social Entrepreneur Support Manager
How can we foster better relationships between social entrepreneurs and public bodies? We have been asking this question ever since the term social enterprise and social entrepreneurship was coined. The public sector want to engage more with social businesses for better social outcomes, but the reality of this happening at scale is less evident.
As part of our South Wales Valleys Resilient Communities work funded by players of People's Postcode Lottery, The Bevan Foundation, an independent Welsh think tank and one of our anchor organisations in the area, wanted to explore this notion further. Bevan have long been an advocate and champion for social entrepreneurs, recognising the incredible role they play in helping to reduce poverty and stimulate regeneration in the Valleys, once the thriving heart of coal mining and now one of the poorest parts of the UK.
In November 2020, we held a roundtable meeting with social entrepreneurs, support agencies and local authority representatives from across Wales. What came about was an open and honest conversation about the challenges and opportunities the social business sector faces when engaging with public bodies.
The Bevan Foundation have now published a paper sharing the learnings. You can read the full document here. It specifically outlines actions to build more resilient local economies, drive up value for money and release multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits.
The paper reveals that fundamental to fruitful collaboration are officers who are willing to challenge established ways of working and understand the value of social enterprises. For example, Flintshire County Council is part of a well-established North East Wales Social Enterprise Network. The council has a dedicated Social Enterprise Officer that sits within its economic development team.Through ideas like this, a wider institutional ""culture"" of social enterprise that operates at a regional level could be cultivated in other parts of Wales.
There is a growing appetite for social value to be better measured, understood and designed into public sector working practices and to make procurement and commissioning work for social outcomes.
The Bevan Foundation identify five steps to maximise closer working, understanding and collaborations between social enterprise and public sector bodies.
1. Grow a social enterprise culture
A strong social enterprise culture creates greater awareness, recognition and understanding of the value of social enterprise. It offers greater opportunities for social enterprise to play a role in local economies.
2. Join up good practice
Good practice is taking place across Wales, but sometimes occurs in isolation and in pockets. Joining it up helps to show that existing procurement regulations are not barriers to a progressive approach and facilitates valuable peer to peer learning.
3. Embed social value
Social value is increasingly being recognised but there is more work to be done to make it a core part of decision-making and practice across anchor institutions and public bodies.
4. Ensure clarity of pipeline
Making procurement transparent and accessible provides opportunities for social enterprises to compete on a more level playing field and to plan competing for contracts into their businesses forecasts.
5. Improve contract design
Good contract design is essential to ensure that smaller social enterprises are not ""designed out"" of procurement. Breaking up larger contracts and designing them in a way that is accessible and reflects contract needs can improve social business access to compete for contracts.
Taken together, we know there is real scope for the joining up of good practice and showcasing of good work that is delivered by social entrepreneurs. By understanding, celebrating, and increasing the role of social enterprise, including through working with public bodies, it can help create more resilient communities and thriving, inclusive local economies.