Harnessing Social Enterprise for Local Public Services

The government's public service reform policy emphasizes the collaboration of local authorities with a network of other agencies in the locality, either through contracts or through partnership arrangements. Strong encouragement is currently being given to the involvement of `third sector' organizations (including social enterprises) in such partnering arrangements. This environment has opened up new opportunities for social enterprises. However, as the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) has asserted in relation to social enterprise, `rhetoric rather than a robust evidence base continues to inform many arguments for its growth and support' (DTI, 2003a: 49). This article examines one of the most widespread examples of social enterprise in the provision of public services: `new leisure trusts'. It asks whether the combination of entrepreneurial skills and social purpose in social enterprises such as new leisure trusts provides a useful model upon which public service partnerships could be based. Findings show that these social enterprises can work to create synergy through improved input/output ratios, commitment to meeting social objectives and wider stakeholder involvement. However, there are issues of `incentivization' and relative autonomy that must be resolved within such partnerships, and more work needs to be done in some cases to build genuine social inclusion.