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30 May 2022 The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Social Enterprise has announced that Jo Gideon MP has been elected as its new Chair, following the decision by Alex Sobel MP to stand down after five years in the role. Gideon, the Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent Central, was elected to Parliament in 2019 and has brought her experience as a social entrepreneur and small business owner to the Commons. The APPG for Social Enterprise is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers that seeks to raise awareness of social enterprise within Westminster. Earlier this year, the APPG published a report into the impact of COVID-19 on the social enterprise sector. The APPG holds regular meetings throughout the year to connect Parliamentarians and social enterprises together. Commenting on her election to Chair of the APPG, Jo Gideon MP said: “It is a privilege to have been elected as the Chair of the APPG on Social Enterprise. I have been an active champion for social enterprise throughout my life as they play a hugely valuable role within our economy and our communities through their vital work to improve the lives of those they support. Over the years I have both set up and advised a wide range of social enterprises and am keen to ensure a wider awareness of supporting the sector.” Peter Holbrook CBE, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK which provides the Secretariat to the APPG said: “The APPG for Social Enterprise plays an important role in championing social enterprise and I am pleased that Jo has been elected as the new Chair. She comes to the role at an important time for our sector as we look to find ways for social enterprise to contribute towards levelling up the country and achieving Net Zero. Social Enterprise UK will continue to provide support to the APPG so that we build the best possible environment for social enterprise to flourish.” “I would also like to put on record the sector’s thanks to Alex Sobel for his chairing of the APPG over the past five years. He has been a dedicated Chair and advocate for social enterprise, and I am sure that we will continue to work together in the future.”

Like most households and businesses, social enterprises are concerned about rising costs and inflation. Their level of concern has increased significantly over the last quarter, with over two-thirds of social enterprises worried about the impact on their businesses. Yet when thinking about solutions, social enterprises are focused on longer-term impact and structural reform – they are not reacting to this pressure by requesting subsidy or seeking to cut costs. When asked what support they needed, less than half of respondents said that fiscal or grant-based support was what they required. As the lack of government measures to address inflation and rising costs impacts the whole economy, we are collecting data through the Social Enterprise Advisory Panel to understand how social enterprises are being affected. In our January Social Enterprise Advisory Panel[1], we saw that 34% of social enterprises expected cost of living to be a significant concern over the following 3-6 months. This was alongside ongoing COVID uncertainty and reduced income/revenue associated with both the pandemic and inflation. In March that figure had risen to 68%. Over a fifth are very concerned, and just 7% think that there will be no negative impact on their business. Don’t anticipate a negative impact on business7%No impact yet/not sure what the impact will be23%Somewhat concerned46%Very concerned – already seeing significant impact22% Level of concern about the impact of the rising cost of living In addition to concern about rising costs, we asked whether operating costs have changed in the last quarter compared to the previous quarter. 55% of social enterprises have seen operating costs increase, with 10% of these saying costs have increased significantly. Don’t know or prefer not to say4%Operating costs have significantly increased10%Significantly decreased3%Slightly decreased8%Slightly increased45%Stayed the same30% Operating costs changes in the last 3 months, compared to the 3 months before When asked about support required to mitigate the impacts of rising costs, we presented the options of tax relief and emergency grants. Just under a half of respondents indicated that these would be useful to them – meaning that over half didn’t see these as key solutions. What was more interesting from results was that social enterprises are thinking about longer-term solutions and wider, more structural reform. Alongside suggestions for temporary government support to address escalating property and energy prices and to reverse the proposed national insurance contribution increase, social enterprises are proposing solutions that are less focused on the immediate needs of individual businesses and address structural reforms needed to deliver strong and growing social enterprise activity over the medium and longer-term. For example, whereas social enterprises said that energy price caps would help them mitigate price rises, there is equal interest to address overall energy efficiency in the medium and longer-term as part of the solution to current high energy costs. “Help to reduce overheads by providing capital expenditure for more energy efficient heating & lighting“ Similarly, social enterprises want measures to address consumer discretionary spend – rather than providing support directly to social enterprises. Because many social enterprises work in and for communities in areas of high deprivation that were already stretched by the financial and wider consequences of the pandemic, cuts in discretionary spending are likely to have a more immediate impact than for many other businesses. But unlike direct financial support to businesses, fiscal support to impoverished people offers the double benefit of relieving those most in need – and, indirectly, ensuring that social enterprises which offer them support can continue to do so. “Government intervention to ensure that discretionary spend is still available for people to buy services like ours.” “Supporting community against the rising cost of living especially food and fuel costs.” Rising costs are not being mirrored by changes to contract fees and the need to address this procurement issue is becoming more acute for many social enterprises. “All our work is with statutory bodies, umbrella bodies and housing associations, these are contracts where fees have remained static for more than 10 years.” Also on a wider level, albeit not directly related to the rising costs, there is growing concern about a gap between the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and past EU funding and the implications this will have on poorer communities in particular, and therefore on social enterprise activity in these areas. What is the ask from social enterprise? Energy price caps in the short term and more support towards energy efficiency in the medium term. Procurement pricing changes to account for significant supplier and input cost increases. More support to mitigate costs for the poorest individuals and households in the short term and wider and deeper fiscal reform in the medium term.

May 18 2022 A new report by Social Value 2032 and authored by Professor Chris White – former Member of Parliament and author of the Social Value Act – has found that smarter public sector procurement could unleash an extra £56bn per year in social value which could be used to level up the country, tackle Net Zero and strengthen communities. Social Value 2032 is a new partnership and programme of work delivered by PwC, Shaw Trust, Siemens, Suez recycling and recovery UK and overseen by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK). Ten years after the passage of the Social Value Act, which places an obligation on public bodies to consider the wider economic, social and environmental impact of the services they commission and procure, this partnership has launched a new report: Social Value 2032: Creating a Social Value Economy. The report outlines a new vision for social value, a way of using procurement to create added social, economic and environmental impact through spending by public bodies and private companies. Social Enterprise UK has analysed the past decade of public spending and found that the UK public sector is only realising a fraction of the benefits that could be generated through greater embedding of social value. The analysis found that between 2010 and 2020 an estimated £36bn could have been generated through social value in public sector procurement. An estimated £762bn could have been generated if social value had been implemented universally across the public sector from day one of the Social Value Act.   Using this figure SEUK estimates that there is £56bn of social value that could be unlocked by the public sector annually – equivalent to double the UK Government’s current commitment to Net Zero. As the Government looks to level up the country, this new report identifies a major ‘quick win’ to use existing public sector spending to reduce inequalities and transition to a green economy. Alongside this, the report calls on the UK’s largest businesses to adopt a social value approach to working with the public sector. The report, published at the Social Value Leaders’ Summit in Birmingham on 18 May, outlines a new vision for procurement focused on: Systems-change: using procurement to create better and more sustainable businesses and markets in the UK.Transformative public services: focused on long-term prevention and innovation.Environmental sustainability: considering not just the social impact of how we spend money but also the environmental impact. Realising this vision for the UK will: Deliver levelling up faster through smarter use of public and private investment.Make British business stronger through promoting long term investment and sustainability.Create stronger communities through greater partnership between places, businesses and government.Help the UK take advantage of the growing market for environmentally sustainable products.Make the UK the world leader in measuring social and environmental impact generating billions in service exports. Download the full report Download the report summary

15 May 2022 Commenting on Big Society Capital’s response to the Commission on Social Investment, Peter Holbrook CBE, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK said: “Social enterprises will support Big Society Capital’s decision to cut its target rate of return, an issue which has been raised over many years as part of the reason that our cost of capital is expensive relative to other businesses. This is a positive step forward and a big win for the Commission on Social Investment. We hope the benefits from this change will be passed down to social enterprises in lower cost finance.” “We are disappointed, however, that Big Society Capital has chosen not to accept the Commission’s recommendation to put social enterprises at the heart of its mission. They are right to say that they only have limited funds to make a difference, but this is even more of a reason to target helping social enterprises to grow rather than spending their resources thinly.” “Ultimately, as the Commission said, we should trust social entrepreneurs. Growing social enterprise is the most effective way to tackle homelessness, climate change, health and wellbeing or any of the many issues that Britain faces.” “Social Enterprise UK also urges Big Society Capital to look again at providing investment into a black-led social investment intermediary and fund. It has taken a creative approach to financing developments in the social investment market in the past. Given the obvious discrimination against black-led social enterprises in the market, Big Society Capital must take responsibility. There is no legal restriction on Big Society Capital using grants or creating a blended funding package including grants, equity and debt. We must not allow squeamishness about grants to block efforts to advance social justice.” You can read Big Society Capitals response to the findings of the Commission on Social Investing in this piece featured in Pioneers Post.

12 May 2022 Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) has appointed five new Board members following a rigorous recruitment process. SEUK’s Chair Lord Victor Adebowale CBE commented: ‘SEUK’s new Board members will add complementary abilities and experience to an already strong Board and ensure we have the best possible mix of skills in our boardroom. ‘Social enterprise has significant potential to improve our society, but this potential is being held back by issues such as lack of access to social investment, at a time of greater demand for support from local communities. I look forward to working with the Board and the SEUK team to support, enable and champion the social enterprise sector, to unleash the potential for the fairer and more inclusive society that social enterprise can offer.’ The five new Board members will be formally appointed at the next SEUK Board meeting on 12 May 2022, and will join an experienced Board who have steered the organisation, and supported the social enterprise movement, through the pandemic. SEUK Chief Executive Peter Holbrook added: ‘We are delighted to have been able to appoint five such experienced and respected leaders, drawn from across the diverse and dynamic social enterprise community, to join the SEUK Board.   ‘I look forward to working with them to take SEUK’s ambitious strategy forward and support our members to flourish despite the profound economic and social shocks the UK is currently navigating, and the continuing climate emergency. The social enterprise sector is proving resilient so far but now more than ever we need to ensure social enterprise can power out of the pandemic period and play its part in building a fairer society in which everyone can thrive.’ The new board members are: Amy Denro – Multi award-winning social CEO and co-founder of groundbreaking social supermarket HISBE Food. Chris Luck CB, MBE – Senior leader, former Air Vice Marshall and now CEO of the Shaw Trust Group, the UK’s largest employment sector non-profit. Devi Clark – Experienced leader, strategist and coach and Managing Director of the influential Impact Hub King’s Cross (IHKX). Patricia Keiko Hamzahee – Former investment banker and co-founder and Director of the Black Funding Network and Extend Ventures. Advising and championing social enterprises’ access to funding. Sarah McIntosh - Social purpose membership organisation expert and Executive Director of Membership and Delivery at Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)

23 March 2022 Peter Holbrook CBE, Chief Executive, Social Enterprise UK said: “There is some good news in the Spring Statement today for social enterprises, with increases in Employment Allowance which will help social enterprises to continue to successfully create meaningful jobs, and the Chancellor’s VAT-cut on energy saving materials which will help strengthen the growing green social enterprise sector.” “The Chancellor set out the need for more investment in people, ideas and capital – exactly what the UK’s social enterprises are so effective at delivering. But instead of recognising the need to reform the private sector, he is cutting tax and hoping that business will do the right thing. All the evidence shows that it is not a lack of generous tax support which is holding our economy back, it is the short-termism of business and finance.” “SEUK will engage closely with HM Government on its proposals to reform our tax system to help businesses grow and we will champion social enterprises. But tax cuts are not a substitute for a plan to reform the economy. This is the case that social enterprises will keep making in the months ahead.” 

8 March 2022 Leading businesses and social enterprises have announced a new programme of work to accelerate and expand the consideration of social value in public and private sector procurement. This programme has been announced on the 10th Anniversary of the passage of the Social Value Act, a world-leading law which requires public bodies to consider social and environmental impact when making procurement decisions. “Social Value 2032: Shaping the Future of Social Value” will be led by Professor Chris White, former Member of Parliament and author of the Social Value Act. The programme will be delivered by Social Enterprise UK supported by a coalition of companies at the forefront of the social value agenda including PwC, Siemens, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and Shaw Trust.Since 2010, the estimated value of annual spend where social value has been considered in the award of the contract, has increased from £25bn to £100bn. However, despite quadrupling the amount of spending which is influenced by social and environmental factors, this is still only a third of annual Public Sector procurement spend. The programme will consider how social value can be expanded to cover all public sector procurement and go beyond this, influencing the spending of the UK’s largest companies. If this was achieved, it would unlock billions of investment in new low carbon products; creating thousands of employment and training opportunities and see millions of pounds reinvested back into providing social, environmental and cultural infrastructure for communities. Social Value 2032 will provide a new vision for social value at the Social Value Leaders Summit on 18th May 2022, taking place this year in Birmingham. Later in the year, the programme will unveil a “Social Value Roadmap” on the changes needed to enable the 100% target to be hit in the public sector and largest private sector companies by 2032 in time for the Act’s 20th anniversary. Speaking about the launch of the programme, Professor Chris White, author of the Social Value Act and programme lead, said: “I am proud of the role that I played with Social Enterprise UK in getting the Social Value Act through Parliament and encouraging public bodies and businesses to think about the social and environmental impact of their spending. But a lot has changed in ten years, from Net Zero to the renewed focus on reducing inequality in our society. Social value needs to adapt and accelerate to meet those new challenges.” “The fact that we have a coalition of leading companies and social enterprises in social value gives me confidence that there is more that we can do to spread the influence of social value to ensure that every part of the public sector and our biggest businesses maximise the social and environmental impact of their spending.” “The UK has been a world leader on this agenda since we introduced the Act but we cannot rest on our laurels. I hope that working together with these leading businesses and social enterprises, we can show how social value can provide practical help in the race to Net Zero and to level up the country.”     Speaking on behalf of programme partner PwC, Nancy Park said: “Delivering Social Value is strongly aligned to our purpose here at PwC.  Our responsible business framework informs the decisions that we make, the engagements we accept and the advice we give to our clients. Increasingly our public and private sector clients want to find out how they can have greater positive social and environmental impact.” “We take social value into account in all our spend as well as in our recruitment and deployment and strategic decision making.  These are key ways that we can achieve positive social and environmental impact. We are delighted to be part of this programme of work and to be able to contribute our expertise to the future of social value.” Chris Luck CB MBE, Chief Executive of Shaw Trust, a leading charity social enterprise and programme partner said: “Social value is at the heart of everything we do as a social-enterprise model charity, and we have been pioneers in utilizing social value since the Act was introduced ten years ago. Through our ‘charitable heart with a business brain’ approach, we have seen the benefits to our service-users and communities when social value is done well, but we need to do more to ensure that commissioning and procurement maximises the opportunities of social value. In particular, we need to ensure that social value supports the work of social enterprises, like ours, who work every penny to generate benefits for society.” “Accelerating and expanding the use of social value will create new challenges. For that reason, I believe it is important for Shaw Trust to be a partner and contribute our experience of using social value in practice to deliver high-quality public services.” John Scanlon, Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, programme partner said: “At SUEZ we are clear that our activities must benefit more than the bottom line and social value forms a core part of our business strategy. In 2020 we created £1.98 billion in social value, up from £1.55 billion in 2019. This value is not just a number, it reflects the benefits from our work delivering essential services around the UK. Social value matters to people and communities and that’s why it matters to us.” “We’re passionate about sharing our experiences to support our customers and peers in using social value effectively, and we’re looking forward to learning from others about their work, to help us move forward on our social value journey.” Dietmar Harteveld, Head of Supply Chain Management, EMEA of Siemens, programme partner said: “Siemens is proud to be part of this programme and to support efforts to make business sustainable. We have put in place our DEGREE framework to decarbonize our business, ensure high standards of ethics and equity as well as improve our resource efficiency and the employability of our staff.” “Social value is an important tool in realizing our aspirations and we are proud to be part of this programme which will consider what more can be done to get business to contribute to making our society better and greener.” “Siemens has been at the forefront of improving our procurement to ‘Buy Social’ and develop new partnerships with social enterprises and SMEs to increase the social and environmental impact of our business. We look forward to working with our partners to expand the opportunities for social value in supply chains across the public and private sectors.”