Judicial review shows public misunderstands social enterprise, warns UK sector leader

Collapsing plans to transfer community care services in Gloucestershire to a community interest company have revealed a dangerously poor public understanding of social enterprise.

So said Social Enterprise UK CEO Peter Holbrook today in response to news that NHS Gloucestershire could abandon its plans to put community care services in the hands of Gloucestershire Care Services CIC.

NHS Gloucestershire has agreed to reconsider its decision as part of an agreement to halt a judicial review brought by local resident Michael Lloyd with the backing of the pressure group Stroud Against the Cuts.

Holbrook, said: ‘This opposition may have arisen if the local community wasn’t consulted early enough in the process, but we believe it is symptomatic of a much wider issue – that social enterprise is misunderstood or poorly understood.

‘Many people are suspicious of social enterprise because they haven’t seen one at work before. Using enterprise for social purposes is an idea that is growing in importance and is catching on around the world, but there is a lag in people’s understanding,’ Holbrook warned.

‘Social enterprises exist to benefit society – this is their top priority. They reinvest their profits, while private firms turn a profit for their shareholders. They can be asset-locked so that they cannot be sold for private benefit.'

He continued: ‘If people don’t understand the difference between a social enterprise and a mainstream private business then they are naturally going to be suspicious about social enterprises working in public services. Yet in our experience, social enterprises that deliver health and social care services often find their patients and the wider community are their biggest champions.’

Holbrook said people had ‘a right to know the kind of organisation that could deliver their public services’.

He called on the government ‘to work with local authorities to explain to the general public the different options on the table’.

The Primary Care Trust will now start a new process and advertise for expressions of interest for the provision of NHS services in Gloucestershire.

Holbrook said: ‘We hope the community gets what it wants. But there is now a strong danger that a private sector provider will express an interest and could win the contract. We hope that doesn’t end up being the case for people living in Gloucestershire.

‘If the social enterprise Gloucestershire Care Services makes another application, it will need to work hard to involve the community. Communities need to be involved, to voice their concerns and wants. We know that when the stakeholder consultation process is followed well, local people are very often the biggest advocates of social enterprise.

‘Social enterprises reinvest their profits, involve their staff and patients in the design and delivery of services, and so tailor their services according to local need. The result is that they’re efficient and deliver really good services and patient care.’

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