Strengthening Scotland’s Social Enterprises: Insights from the Cross Party Working Group
Even while sitting in the waiting room, I was struck by the sense of community within Scotland’s social enterprise scene. People knew each other, exchanged warm greetings, and commented on how nice it was to reconnect. This sense of community seems to drive change and mobilize social enterprise networks across Scotland. As a first-timer at this event, both for myself and for Sanitree, it was encouraging to see the uplifting nature of the relationships in the space. We moved into the Summer Fairfax room, where discussions centered on funding, policy and the reality of what working in a social enterprise in Scotland looks like today.
Key take-aways from the evening underscored the importance of recognizing and valuing social enterprises, both in the work they do and their role in the Scottish economy. Social enterprises' role in the economy and how worth and value should be approached regarding this issue were debated throughout the evening across different contexts. A resounding push for a shift from creating enterprises to maintaining pre-existing ones featured throughout the evening. Both of these matter because communities matter. Community impact underscored the discussions taking place, even if strategies to bring this about can be debated or negated.
Social Enterprise Scotland described the purpose of the meeting as amplifying the voices of Scottish entrepreneurs in policy-making to drive success and raise awareness of social enterprises through inspiring stories for opportunity. The session began with a discussion of ‘social enterprise experience at the current time’.
Lara Porter from the Eskdalemuir Hub, a rural community hub in Dumfries that provides everything from community activities to hot meals and advice, presented first. She argued that funding needs to be managed differently, as the current economy does not adequately value social enterprises or community hubs like Eskdalemuir’s. A revision of ways of knowing and ways of management is necessary to create a system where ‘value’ can equal social value.
Alex Richards from Gladiators, an organization supporting communities in Glasgow through sport and provision of necessary supplies, echoed Porter’s call to value existing enterprises more. He argued for greater flexibility and creative thinking at the government level, which would help foster a financial landscape that benefits social enterprises, government efficiency, and the communities served. Preserving and improving existing social enterprises would allow them to compete more effectively for contracts, ultimately benefiting the private sector and social enterprises.
The struggles faced by social enterprises in recent years of shortfalls and lack of funding animated the evening’s discussions. Members of the Sanitree team identified a lack of funding signposting and limited opportunities for small organizations as key areas for improvements. Panelists proposed a more radical approach, but Sanitree’s work with EUSA and structure as a product-creator aligns with the wider visions shared at the event.
Bayile Adeoti of Dechomai outlined system change in another way: empowering entrepreneurs of colour (and other protected characteristics) who are severely underrepresented in opportunities in the enterprise sector. Dechomai’s ‘access report’ illuminated the lack of data on ethnic minority representation in the sector and the lack of detail or specificity in this data. There is limited awareness of organisations designed to fund social enterprises and lack of trust by social entrepreneurs of colour, Adeoti argued, generating a knowledge gap resulting in limited engagement and visibility. Social Enterprises’ challenges, and methods of growth, take place at both interpersonal and macro scales, as demonstrated by the current experiences panel.
In response, Ariane pivoted to funders and investors for ‘what we’re hearing from clients and partners and how we’re responding’. I was surprised by the compassion of the funders on the panel. Instead of an anticipated obsession on numbers and reductive metrics on social impact, they demonstrated an informed and empathetic approach to the issues facing social enterprises.
Neil Ritch (Scotland Director of the National Lottery Development Fund), began by setting out the 30% increase in demand for the fund. In remaining hopeful, Ritch identifies energy in the sector and an ambition for clear, quick, flexible funding based on respect and honesty.
Kieran Daly, set out new funds that have been created to translate market building into business support in response to increased funding demands due to the current economy. To Market Building at Social Enterprise Scotland, growth means increasing revenue to get more back. Their growth programmes look at purchasing power and investment attraction consultations with active communication around risk.
Morven Lyon, Head of Democratic Finance for the Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS) was the final speaker. Echoing the same funding and finance crisis, Lyon continued on to identify a lack of forward planning in public funding leading to short term grants with delays. Lyon focused on increasing financial resilience to move away from grant dependency. Communities are unable to access vital resources and yet are expected to fill in the gaps in services. Risk aversion, and burnout are leading towards a loss of capacity in the sector. Lyon proposes community shares, bonds, local legacies, community lottery and a truly just transition as avenues for navigating Scotland’s social enterprise sector out of this status.
Late funding, and timings of funding being impractical (and in some cases) wasteful was raised during the Q&A session. Bureaucracy, inefficient systems and lack of organisations for funding meant social enterprises couldn’t guarantee that they would even still be around by the time they rolled out their business plans or reached their social potential. As convenor, Burgess pledged to write letters to the Scottish Government on the speed of funding and changing parameters on when it has to be spent in a financial year. But managing these difficult barriers raises an ethical problem of funding. While the government is viewed as giving communities power instead it gives communities responsibility. People need capacity and resources to volunteer to manage this responsibility or communities’ power is never realised.
Sanitree plans to utilize insights from this event, such as signposting funding opportunities and understanding the broader trajectory of the sector, to guide our strategy. I learned about organisations such as First Port and grants like the Community Learning Exchange Fund. As noted by Lara Porter and Alex Richards, it is difficult to develop effective strategies without secure funding. Sanitree’s unique India-Scotland relationship means our challenges differ from those faced by many of the social enterprises that were present at the CPG. Our community building around menstruation spoke to Neil Ritche’s (Scotland Director of the National Lottery Fund) thoughts about thinking of community as more than a locality. Identity over locality. This idea felt new to the organisation, but I think is of utmost importance in how we strive for community change and impact, both as a nation and a wider society. Defining communities through binaries doesn’t appreciate the complexity of shared struggle, experience or empowerment.
The CPG working group represented a hopeful and honest exchange of ideas. While social enterprise support in Scotland is not yet where it needs to be, creative thinking and collaborative efforts are paving the way forward. Help Sanitree do our part by exploring our work– and if you can, purchasing a period pad to support our mission.