"Social enterprise is inspiring ... the impact it has on the lives of individuals and communities is incredible ... the potential is there to transform society!" These are some of the sentiments I've heard since starting work in the sector six months ago. But do these claims live up to reality ? I'm sure folk will be glad to hear that the answer, in short, is a positive "Aye".
What policy and communications workers in Scotland's broad third sector sometimes seem to forget is the purpose for which they're working. Stuck in front of computer screens in the capital or Glasgow, we can sometimes forget why we do our jobs. Not only do we lose motivation and interest – crucially, we forget the impact of what we do for those working at the grassroots.
Rather than just sitting at a desk in Edinburgh, with a stash of dull policy documents, I've been around the country, visiting diverse social enterprise businesses, from Impact Arts in Glasgow, to Bookdonors in the Scottish Borders and Dundee's Wooden Spoon Catering, to the Calman Trust in Inverness. These (and many other) businesses are genuinely innovative and allow those of us working with the sector to keep a focus.
But what is happening on that policy agenda? It's exciting times, with a governing SNP that has social enterprise at the core of its election manifesto. And this is now in the context of the publication of the new Christie Commission report on public sector reform. The report has an emphasis on spend-to-save, innovation, new partnerships, real outcomes for communities and directly involving people. Have you heard that somewhere before? Oh yeah, it's describing the social enterprise sector!
Our aim is to work in partnership with the politicians to get the best deal for our sector. We must demonstrate to them quite clearly how social enterprises can save the public sector hard cash. For example, getting one excluded individual into work could save: NHS money, welfare bills, court costs, prison costs, social work costs and prevent many other negative impacts on hard-pressed public services. In addition, you get an individual positively contributing taxes. We must continue to develop how we measure and provide evidence of these social impacts. "We could save you money!" should be one of our mantras in a political debate increasingly focused on preventative spending.
The question now is what role will social enterprises actually play in a radical reform agenda? Will we be included right at the centre? Will we see a real change in culture in the state, with a new understanding that public service does not always equal public sector? Will we be able to tackle vested interests from all quarters?
A clear and positive vision is needed. Scoping the sector, to see exactly what's going on across Scotland, is essential. And yes this means that the dreaded "definition thing" may need to be addressed. We also need to raise the profile in the media (*Note to self: next item on to-do list.*) Though we have some encouraging statistics from Ipsos Mori, demonstrating that the public at least know something about what social enterprise is and does, it's still a bit of a secret that needs to be blown wide open.
Warning: here comes the sentimental bit. What I've found most interesting is the type of people involved in the sector. I'm not into hero worship, but there really are a lot of hardworking and inspirational people out there – and people with robust, outspoken and sometimes quirky views. (FYI, this is a good thing).
Finally, partnership working and good communication needs to be more than nice words – it needs action on the ground. This should be across the board, whether it's with government at all levels, the private sector, with fellow intermediaries in the social enterprise sector – or between social enterprises themselves. We need to understand what mutual aid really means, i.e, what's good for "them" is good for all of us. There's no doubt that our time has come in Scotland. If we work together we can indeed spark a social enterprise revolution.
Duncan Thorp is parliamentary, policy and communications officer at the Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the social enterprise network, click here.
