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By Jennifer Clair Robson - Content Director at Climate Action North The shift toward net zero will bring economy-wide transformation on an unprecedented scale. The transition will impact many industries, jobs, and communities. A Just Transition concerns the fair treatment of workers and communities affected by these changes. It involves investment in new skills and infrastructure while protecting and creating high-quality jobs and employment for a green economy. Approximately 6.3 million jobs in the UK, equating to around one in five, are likely to be affected by the transition to a green economy, according to the Just Transition Jobs Tracker. A Just Transition applies not only to large multinational corporations and governments; it is also critical that small and medium businesses, who play a crucial role in creating employment and are often at the heart of communities, are involved. Yet, while the importance of a Just Transition is a priority for the global climate agenda, it has been noted that many people don’t fully understand what it means. Here we demystify the Just Transition and consider: what is the Just Transition, why should I care, and what can my social enterprise do? What is the Just Transition? The Just Transition movement is a rising concern calling for the fair treatment of workers and communities who will be most affected by the shift to clean energy and the phasing out of fossil fuels. Greenpeace is campaigning to ensure that this move doesn’t leave anyone behind; they want to see workers, especially those in the oil and gas sector, retrained to keep green energy powering the world. The COP26 summit saw a 190-strong coalition of countries and organisations commit to phase out coal power and agree to: End investment in new coal power generation domestically and internationally Phase out coal power in economies in the 2030s for major economies Rapidly scale up the deployment of clean power generation Make a just transition away from coal power in a way that benefits workers and communities The push for clean and renewable energy is important because coal is responsible for nearly half of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. A report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in August 2021 was described as “code red” for humanity; it warned that without immediate deep cuts to carbon, including the phase-out of coal, the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement will be unreachable.  Why should I care about the Just Transition? Without a Just Transition, many workers, particularly those in the oil and gas sector, will lose their livelihoods creating unnecessary hardship for them and their communities. Many will have spent a significant proportion of their life employed in their area of expertise and will not have the abilities to work in evolving professions. New jobs may not be available in the same locations that jobs are lost, and they may not be available at the time when people become unemployed. This is a pattern that has been repeated around the world, closer to home it happened when coal miners across the North of England lost their jobs in the 1980s. Sunderland City Council Deputy Leader Claire Rowntree told Climate Action North: “it’s vital that we do all we can to ensure the communities and jobs most affected by the inevitable switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy receive the levels of support required as we plan for a cleaner, greener future.” Fossil fuels is an obvious example, but the impacts will affect other industries such as automotive production, agriculture, construction and housing, manufacturing, and scientific and technical services. All affected industries will need to upskill their workforce or hire new employees. It is often forgotten that the Just Transition applies not only to large multinational corporations and governments. It is also relevant for small and medium businesses and social enterprises who may struggle to adjust without support, advice, and incentives. Yet the International Organisation of Employees (IOE) has stated that it believes that not enough focus is placed on small businesses in the Just Transition. It is essential social enterprises are engaged. They add a huge amount of value to communities and are connected through employees and their families. Any changes made in a social enterprise will spread out through the community via its workforce. Businesses that fail to act will face mounting pressure from investors, customers, staff and potential recruits, and legislation. In a nutshell, embracing a Just Transition to net zero and a green economy can help ensure the sustainability not only of the planet, but also of your enterprise. What can my social enterprise do? The most important step you can take is to commit to act. Simply making a Just Transition priority by including it in your goals will ensure it gets the attention it needs. Look at your social enterprise and find the smallest, easiest ways you can begin to make a difference. Start with your own impact and what you’re able to do. Get a holistic picture of risks climate change pose to your enterprise and operations with the Climate Action North business toolkit. Scrutinise your resilience against climate risks, identify areas of improvement, and put in place an action plan to reach net zero. It is important that those in the supply chain take account of their social impact when on the net zero journey. As well as working to strengthen local supply chains, you must consider regulations, apply due diligence for your workforce’s best interests, and ensure all environmental impacts are considered. This will make it easier to secure funds and contracts and enjoy the wider local economic and community benefits this brings. A Just Transition may bring challenges, but it will also present opportunities such as the upskilling and professional development of you and your workforce, and the creation of new jobs. These benefits need to be accessible to everyone so engage with your workforce to make sure they’re heard and are actively involved with all issues and opportunities. Climate Action North hosts events that focus on achieving a Just Transition in the North of England. They focus on strategies to create green jobs along with retraining opportunities for small businesses to help them be ‘skills-ready’ for the Just Transition to a cleaner, greener future. Sign up to our newsletter for details on events as they are released. Follow Climate Action North projects and get in touch to support our work and get involved. Our actions now will make a difference to tomorrow.

9 June 2022 Social enterprise, charity representative bodies and social investors have joined forces to call on Government to get behind a new plan to back enterprises in underserved places and communities in the forthcoming consultation on Dormant Assets. A 12-week consultation on the future use of dormant assets in England is expected to be launched this summer. The expanded scheme could release more than £880m additional funds for charities and social enterprises. A new ‘Community Enterprise Growth Plan’ focuses on the untapped potential for growing enterprises with a social purpose across the country, particularly in places and communities that have been deprived of investment in the past. This includes areas identified by the index of multiple deprivation and those led by or serving protected groups such as people from ethnic minority backgrounds, those with an impairment or facing gender bias.  The plan centres on providing increased access to capital, dedicated funding to encourage the growth of trading activity, and tailored business support. The coalition giving their backing to the plan includes SEUK, Navca, Power to Change and UnLtd, among others. It looks to leverage both private and philanthropic capital, alongside Dormant Assets – doubling the amount available to communities and ensuring the finite resources available through the scheme are used to maximum effect. The plan builds on a strong track record of utilising Dormant Assets over 10 years to invest in social enterprises, community businesses and trading charities, and complements other proposed uses of dormant assets. It would see Dormant Assets applied to a range of tried and tested interventions to support enterprise and trading activities by VCSEs including: Helping smaller charities and social enterprises to access suitable and affordable finance through blending grants and loans in the places and communities most in need of investment.Start-up funding for a £50m Black-led social investment fund as recommended by the recent Adebowale Commission on Social Investment to tackle the current inequity in social investment.Supporting a vibrant network of non-profit lenders (Community Development Financial Institutions or CDFIs) that can offer affordable finance to community businesses and small enterprises in areas unable to access mainstream lending.Providing tailored business support and incentives for purpose-driven enterprises to grow through trading in the form of match trading initiatives coupled with learning. Peter Holbrook CBE, Chief Executive, Social Enterprise UK said: “This consultation marks a once-in-a-decade opportunity to decide how we use hundreds of millions of pounds to help communities. We must use this precious resource wisely. Ultimately, we know that trading is the only route to lasting transformational change. The Community Enterprise Growth Plan is a smart way to deploy limited funds to support social enterprises in places that need them. I hope that the Government listens to the social enterprise sector and experts in backing this proposal.”  Notes The existing Dormant Assets Scheme enables banks and building societies to channel funds from dormant bank and building society accounts towards good causes. The Scheme is led by industry and backed by the government with the aim of reuniting people with their financial assets. Where this is not possible, this money goes towards social and environmental initiatives across the UK. The scheme is set to be expanded later this year – including assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors for the first time – following a consultation on the causes that should benefit from the scheme in England. The Community Enterprise Growth Plan has been developed and supported by a range of organisations including: Access – the Foundation for Social InvestmentBig Society CapitalImpact Investing InstituteNavcaPower to ChangeSchool for Social EntrepreneursSocial Enterprise UKSocial Investment Business UnLtdMore detail can be found here including further expressions of support for the plan. 

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.”