Social Firms UK

Social Firms UK and Social Firms Scotland have presented to the government, a position statement on welfare reform, the David Freud paper and the Social Firm sector. The statement requests that social enterprise be one of the solutions the government adopts to help those furthest from the labour market into work.

This document shows the response by Sally Reynolds of Social Firms UK to the high profile seminar on Welfare Reform held in London on 26 March 2007.

In this paper, Sally Reynolds, Chief Executive of Social Firms UK outlines the issues faced by the Social Firm sector and recommends solutions.

In April 2006, Social Firms UK and Social Firms Scotland sent responses to the Welfare Reform Green Paper to the Department of Work & Pensions. The paper, entitled 'A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work' was launched for consultation on 24th January 2006. It contained major new proposals to help individuals achieve their potential through work and presents significant opportunity for Social Firms and social enterprise.

The government recently brought out a consultation paper called 'In Work Better Off'. The paper sets out that the Government’s aim is to reduce the number of people on Incapacity Benefit by 1million, enable 300,000 more lone parents to get work and increase the employment rate of older people by 1 million. The consultation focuses on employment support.

From Social Firms UK’s point of view, these proposals are limited in that they focus primarily on supporting people to find jobs in the open labour market, through advice, skills training and the use of incentives. However, Social Firms UK sent a response to the DWP in October 2007 that highlights what Social Firms are all about and offers ideas on changes that could be made and how Social Firms UK could play a positive role in this.

The government’s latest policy announcement, “Opportunity, Employment And Progression: Making Skills Work” heralds a new range of steps aimed at enabling people to get into work and then to develop their skills at work. Changes are to be made to rules on incapacity benefit and eligibility for Pathways to Work, and the “Train to Gain” funding available for employers is to be extended.  Full details have yet to be announced, but highlights include:

This discussion paper http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/principlesofrepre... sets out some principles that are aimed at assisting third sector bodies to come together to form networks and act as the collective voice for the sector in a local area. The principles are not intended to be a blueprint, but try to offer a framework which can be adapted according to local circumstances. Social Firms UK’s response explains what Social Firms are and the impact they can have on local social and economic wellbeing. It highlights the need for Local Strategic Partnerships to be aware of the Social Firms in their area.

Department of Health has put forward it priorities as personalisation; what people do during the day (with a focus on paid work); better health; housing that people want and need; and making sure change happens. Social Firms UK has highlighted how the Social Firm model fulfils their aspirations for paid work for people with a learning disability. We call on the Government to give greater recognition to Social Firms and support the growth of the sector.

DWP is proposing to streamline the Job Introduction Scheme, Work Preparation and WORKSTEP into a single flexible programme. The concepts that are shaping the proposals are:

The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) is setting up a Third Sector Partnership Board to provide them with strategic advice on the design, development, implementation and evaluation of their activities. In our response we stress the importance of the social enterprise sector being represented, in addition to representatives of the voluntary and community sectors. We also point out that the Board’s remit must be clear, and that the work of this board should complement and not overlap with the activities of similar boards in other government departments. We see that this board can provide opportunities to gain greater recognition for the role social enterprises are already playing and to find ways to overcome barriers that constrain social enterprise and Social Firms at a local level.