Social Enterprise

Baseline data on social enterprise across the UK

The DTI's Social Enterprise Unit is working together with the English Regional Development Agencies and the devolved administrations to conduct a project to establish baseline data on social enterprise across the UK. The project will build on the existing wealth of knowledge across the UK to gather core data on social enterprise in a consistent and comparable way. This basic evidence will offer a solid foundation for Government and others to build the national evidence base on social enterprise and develop the direct, practical support needed to grow and sustain the sector.

The project is being conducted in line with the recommendations developed in the research report Guidance on Mapping Social Enterprise, based on the experience of 33 studies and extensive consultation with the social enterprise sector. Work on the project began towards the end of 2003 and results are expected to be available in Summer 2004. An update on progress and further detail on the project's outline and scope follows.

Update 18 February 2004

The first stage of the project to compile initial databases of Companies Limited by Guarantee, and Industrial and Provident Societies for each English region, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales has been completed. DTI is currently working with the English Regional Development Agencies and the devolved administrations on the key second stage of the project which aims to review these databases to identify businesses that fall within the scope of the project. Groups of experts within each region and devolved administration are being invited to bring their knowledge to make recommendations for additions and subtractions to the initial databases, identifying businesses that do fall within the scope of the project but that are not included in the initial database and vice versa. Membership of the expert groups is being drawn from within the sector, social enterprise support organisations, business support organisations, regional government bodies and academics bringing knowledge of the diversity of social enterprise, including development trusts, social firms, co-operatives and charities within each area.

As the English regions and devolved administrations have differing support networks and existing evidence bases on social enterprise, each RDA and devolved administration will be tailoring the detail of the second stage to most effectively capture the existing knowledge within their area. In order to enhance consistency across the UK, a national coordinator - Professor David Smallbone, Head of the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research at Middlesex University - has been appointed to facilitate a 1 day meeting with each expert group to finalise their recommendations for inclusions and exclusions from the initial databases.

Following the expert group meetings, the national coordinator will draw together the revised databases to compile a UK-wide list of enterprises falling within the scope of the study ready for the next stages of the project. The following stages are anticipated to include working with the Social Enterprise Coalition to enable the project to benefit from the knowledge held at national level and analysis of data by region and devolved administration. In addition, it is planned that the database collated will be used to inform a valuable resource for the sector and there will be opportunities for stakeholders to contribute their views on how this may be best achieved.

Outline and scope

The project to establish baseline data on social enterprise across the UK is taking place in five main stages:
1. Compilation of initial databases for each region and devolved administration
2. Validation and enhancement of initial databases by partners and national co-ordinator
3. Telephone survey to establish social aim and trading level
4. Analysis, including estimation of economic contribution
5. Utilisation of data gathered as a resource for the social enterprise sector

It is beyond the scope of this piece of work to collect information on all social enterprises. By focussing on a core group of social enterprises, the project aims to gather comparable data, creating a level platform of data on social enterprise, across the UK that can be built on over time. In addition, it will investigate collection of data on wider groups of social enterprises, with a view to gathering such information across the UK if practical, or making recommendations for further work in this area.

The project will gather information on social enterprises - businesses with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. For practical purposes, the study will principally seek to collect baseline data on a core group of businesses that meet the following three criteria:
· Registration - registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee or as an Industrial and Provident Society
· Trading - has a trading income of 50% or above
· Social objectives - primarily pursues social objectives and principally reinvests surpluses in the business or in the community

In addition, the project will attempt to capture information on additional groups of social enterprises that meet the following criteria:
· Alternative registration - businesses that are not registered as Companies Limited by Guarantee or Industrial and Provident Societies but that meet the trading and social objectives criteria, for example social enterprises that are Companies Limited by Shares or sole traders.
· Limited trading - businesses that have trading income between 25% and 50% and that meet the registration and social objectives criteria.