The need for a social currency
The struggle to understand social value has become more urgent. If local services are to cope with cuts, resources must be directed to programmes that deliver the greatest positive effect. Social enterprises will be overlooked unless they prove their value in a way that the public sector understands.
As yet there is no universal way of measuring social impact. Urged to do more with less councils must judge the merits of disparate services such as free childcare and recycling firms that employ disabled people. Forget apples and oranges; comparing fruit and poetry would be closer to the mark.
P3’s Martin Kinsella believes “the problem is that we don’t have a social currency”. He acknowledged that this ambition will take time to realise saying that “hopefully we’ll get there, but we’re not there yet.” For now the social return on investment Framework provides a process, if not a yardstick.
Jennifer Inglis of the Social Return on Investment Network gave practical advice on using this framework at the For What It's Worth conference:
- Broaden the groups of people which are measured. For example homecare providers often capture their impact on the client, but not the client’s family.
- Measure the importance of social change. Ask the people who use the service how much the benefits they’ve experienced matter. This will help reveal what to concentrate on – both for councils who must decide what to buy, and for social enterprises which need to identify their best assets.
- Understand what would have happened, if a service didn’t exist to reveal an accurate picture.
- Don’t confuse outputs with outcomes. Lacking an accepted way of measuring social value several councils have fallen back on cutting whichever services they believe will cause least public outcry. There is a viable alternative. Social entrepreneurs and local governments must grapple with the complexities and work together to identify those services that deliver exceptional value.
Next – Market-led opportunities for social enterprise
By Vicky Hoad, Blue Rocket PR