Fusion21 chosen for Big Society Top 200 Project visit

Following on from the Prime Ministers speech on the details of his Big Society project last week in Liverpool, Huyton based Social Enterprise Fusion21 received a visit from senior Whitehall decision makers.

The Big Society and Deprived Neighbourhoods project was commissioned by Sir Gus O’Donnell. The aim of the project is to engage senior Whitehall colleagues and partners in meeting this challenge and to consider how they embed priorities around localism, enabling the Big Society, and delivering more for less, in delivery for the most deprived communities.

The Top 200 project is about working with communities, external partners and across Whitehall to understand how Government needs to respond to meet challenges and opportunities in the most deprived neighbourhoods. According to statistics 48% of the most deprived 2% of neighbourhoods are located in the North-West.

The four selected Big Society test beds are Liverpool, Windsor and Maidenhead, the Eden valley in Cumbria, Sutton in London.These areas would be the first to be able to apply for funding from the Big Society bank, which is to be funded using cash from dormant bank accounts and from private sector investment.

The group from Whitehall visited the social enterprise based in Huyton to learn more about the company; they also had the opportunity to speak to trainees and others who have been helped into employment by Fusion21.

Fusion21 is a company that encompasses the Big Society values, a social enterprise that uses its own private capital to reinvest in the local community. Self reliant, the organisation doesn’t depend on public sector funding. Instead it works in collaboration with its partners (social landlords, contractors and suppliers) ensuring their procurement contracts generate both positive economic and social outcomes.

Liz Meek Regional Director for Government Office North West commented, “Fusion21 demonstrates the amount that can be done using the purchasing power of its partners. Fusion21 is a model that has always been innovative, and is a company with a strong geographical focus, enabling it to have a direct impact at community level.”

The visit gave Fusion21 and its key partners the opportunity to engage with the Whitehall visitors and openly discuss what needs to be done by the government to help social enterprises in the test bed areas like Fusion21.

Dean Rogers of Frank Rogers Construction, a local SME, said of Fusion21, “We’ve been partnering with Fusion21 for several years now and the procurement model has delivered great value for money for social landlords. We are able to provide this because we know there will be consistent demand. Regular reviews mean we are always looking for ways to be more competitive. We are happy to take on high quality trainees and help to sustain the neighbourhoods where we work.”

Chris Murray, Chair of Fusion21, said of the opportunity “There is a big opportunity for government, the public sector and social enterprise to work together and help deliver big society, whilst creating jobs and using public money more efficiently.

Fusion21 has demonstrated that this is possible through its innovative procurement model. During tough times the question for anyone spending public money should not be why use a social enterprise route for procurement, rather it should be why are you not using this route, when it can create efficiencies and then reinvest money into service delivery that would otherwise disappear as profits"