What value is a social enterprise?

摘要

The Government has made 'social enterprise' its shining white hope for innovative service delivery and a thriving Big Society. However, when I spoke at a conference recently, dubbed 'the UK's biggest social enterprise evenf by its organisers, it struck me that the passions of the sector seem to have become entirely self-serving, consumed with accessing state funding rather than innovative service delivery. So, the tale of Camden LBC's recent dispute with the country's 'only social enterprise supermarket seems apocryphal. Camden has received an almighty telling-off from the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) for daring to charge The People's Supermarket £78,000 business rates.