A think-tank report said that a new mechanism to raise equity finance for social enterprises was needed, to enable more of them to raise capital without the risk of compromising their social mission in favour of profit.
Source: Jessica Brown and Mark Campanale, Developing a Social Equity Capital Market 2006, New Economics Foundation (020 7820 6300)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Dec
A new book sought to address the ambiguity around the term 'social entrepreneurship', and develop clear frameworks to understand it.
Source: Alex Nicholls (ed.), Social Entrepreneurship: New models of sustainable social change, Oxford University Press (01536 741727)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
The government published a social enterprise action plan. The plan included measures to: promote social enterprise within schools, providing curriculum materials and ensuring it was studied in GCSE and A level business studies courses; and consult with the finance and social enterprise sectors on how to improve the market for social enterprise.
Source: Scaling New Heights: Social enterprise action plan, Office of the Third Sector/Cabinet Office (020 7276 6400)
Links: Report | Hansard | Cabinet Office press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Nov
The Secretary of State for Health said that she wanted to see more public sector providers in health and social care transformed into social enterprises, along the lines of NHS foundation trusts.
Source: Patricia Hewitt MP (Secretary of State for Health), Social Enterprise in Primary and Community Care, Social Enterprise Coalition (020 7968 4921)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that around 1.2 million adults, or 3.2 per cent of the working population, were social entrepreneurs. They were often constrained by the fear of not getting finance. Young people were more likely than any other age group to become social entrepreneurs.
Source: Rebecca Harding, Social Entrepreneurship Monitor: United Kingdom 2006, Foundation for Entrepreneurial Management/ London Business School (020 7706 6866)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
The government announced that the Cabinet Office would take over responsibility for social enterprise and the voluntary and community sector. An Office of the Third Sector would be created under a new voluntary sector minister (Ed Miliband MP). (Previously, the Home Office's Active Communities Directorate was responsible for the VCS, and the Department of Trade and Industry's Social Enterprise Unit was in charge of social enterprise.)
Source: Press release 5 May 2006, 10 Downing Street (020 7270 1234)
Links: Downing St press release | Social Firms UK press release
Date: 2006-May
A report examined how and why social firms chose particular organizational structures; and in particular, why so few chose to set up as co-operatives. It considered whether the legal/financial environment and other relevant factors, such as advice and models available, might be changed to make the choice of organizational structures a more transparent and effective process.
Source: Geof Cox, Co-operative Social Firms, Social Firms UK (01737 764021)
Links: Report | SFUK press release
Date: 2006-May
A think-tank report said that addressing the most important challenges of this century ? including climate change, ageing, and chronic disease, as well as the prospects for sustainable growth ? would depend as much on social innovation as on new technologies.
Source: Geoff Mulgan et al., Social Silicon Valleys: A manifesto for social innovation, Young Foundation (020 8980 6263)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Apr
A report set out the case for more public services to be provided by co-owned companies. Employee-owned companies offered public services a level of employee commitment and innovation that could transform the experience of service users.
Source: Charlie Leadbeater, Innovation Included: Why co-owned businesses are good for public services, Employee Ownership Association (020 7022 1960)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan