Articles
Monday 29th April 2013
Public Finance | Real impact of Social Value Act
It’s good that the public sector is now required by law to take into account social benefit when commissioning services. But the strength of the legislation derives from its ethos and ability to change behaviour rather than the legal content
Chris White’s Private Members Bill requiring public sector commissioners to take into account social as well as financial value was enacted last year and came into force on 31 January 2013.
Continue reading John Tizard’s article.
Wednesday 17th April 2013
Guardian | Would we have had social enterprise without Margaret Thatcher?
Read Allison Ogden-Newton’s fascinating article on the Iron’s Lady’s impact on social enterprise.
There probably aren’t many Margaret Thatcher fans among social entrepreneurs, with most attributing the growth of market economics in social arenas to the measures introduced by Tony Blair. But would we have had the Right to Request without de-nationalisation or the Right to Buy?
As Ed Miliband said during parliament’s tribute sitting, Thatcher was right to recognise that our economy needed to change. In 1982, she said: “How absurd it will seem in a few years’ time that the state ran Pickfords removals and the Gleneagles Hotel.”
Thatcher introduced the idea that government should stop being the default employer and that the public sector needed mixed models of delivery – thinking that has been shared by successive governments ever since…
Wednesday 27th March 2013
Guardian | The Public Services Act must not be allowed to gather dust
Local communities have shown an appetite for developing the social value approach via the new legislation.
The Public Services (Social Value) Act has been in place for just under two months and although it is difficult to judge the progress of the act so shortly after its implementation, the early signs are positibe.
There have been a number of conferences and briefings about the act organised by bodies representing charities, social enterprises, public sector bodies and businesses that have been well attended, some which I have had the opportunity to speak at personally.
I believe this has shown that there is a strong appetite among communities to develop the social value approach and to ensure that we make the most of this legislation.
Continue reading Chris White’s article.
Tuesday 18th March 2013
Guardian | Live discussion: making the government’s city deals work
In advance of the Guardian’s Live Panel Discussion, to which our Chair, Allison Ogden-Newton, is contributing, Sarah Marsh writes about the ‘city deals’ programme, which was designed by cities minister Greg Clark to to make our core cities more autonomous, in order to create powerful, innovative economic hubs that can look outward to businesses and the wider community rather than up to Whitehall to tackle local problems.
- Monday 4th of February 2013
Guardian | What will the Social Value Act mean for social enterprise?
Expert advice from the Guardian’s recent live debate on how social enterprises can make use of the Act.
- Friday 21st of December 2012
Guardian | Is the Public Services (Social Value) Act a no go for small contracts?
The government’s target of enabling over one million former public sector staff to achieve mutual status by 2015 echoes the aspirations of many in the public sector who want to carry on doing the job they love and are interested in more independence – but only if the deal is right. For them, the choice between moving, via the TUPE process, to work for a large listed company with a reputation for stacking it high and selling it cheap, or clubbing together with trusted colleagues to ‘go it alone’, is an easy one…
- Tuesday 21st December 2011
Ethos Journal | Spinning Out
If you work in local or central government, the chances are you might not have paid much attention to the Public Services (Social Value) Bill currently going through Parliament. For those who work with or deliver public services, however, the Bill may have a very real impact on your work for years to come. Read more…
- Monday 28th November 2011
Third Sector | Social value, rather than price, could influence future commissioning
If you work in a charity or a social enterprise, the chances are you might not have paid much attention to the Public Services (Social Value) Bill, which has just cleared its Commons stages and is about to be considered by the House of Lords. However, if you work with, or deliver, public services then the chances are that the Bill may come to have a very real impact on the work your organisation does for decades to come. Read more…
- Wednesday 23rd November 2011
eGov Monitor | Public services that spin out more social value
The architecture of public services in the UK is in transition and focusing on the social enterprise model aimed at delivering social value is not a bad place to start. Read more…
- Monday 21st November 2011
Guardian Online (Public Leaders Network) | Buying into a social value ethos for public services
Public sector spin outs have a social value ethos, and if a parliamentary bill to reform commissioning succeeds, it could give them a competitive advantage, argues Dom Potter. Read more…
- Thursday 20th October 2011
govtoday | Supporting public services that create real social value
The architecture of public services in the UK is in transition. Across the National Health Service, Local Authorities, neighbourhood schools and libraries our public service institutions are being remodelled. Read more…
- Monday 3rd October 2011
Care Talk Magazine | Social enterprise for social care
Public services in Britain are currently undergoing a significant period of change. Social care is no exception and is perhaps feeling these changes more keenly than most parts of our public services. Read more… (p.24)
- Tuesday 16th August 2011
Guardian Online (Public Leaders Network) | A supportive culture will beat fear every time in public service reform
The focus on public service reform has been particularly sharp in recent years due to the economic climate in the UK and beyond. Overarching economic principles have formed the imperative to reduce costs in central and local government, and so far it has been these principles which have seemingly driven much recent reform. Read more…
- Tuesday 16th August 2011
Guardian Online (Public Leaders Network) | The ripple effect of spin-outs: improved services or just economies of scale?
Recently a debate erupted on Twitter: would outsourcing services, where the focus is often on achieving economies of scale, be an obstacle to better services or an opportunity? While it’s true that economies of scale are often treated with suspicion when it comes to the public sector, where the vision of private sector monoliths stacking it high and selling it cheap is understandably unwelcome, we are seeing a growing trend for service providers being enabled to spread their delivery model beyond the boundaries of geography or even service type, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Read more…
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