Social enterprise manifesto

Throughout the pandemic, social enterprises across Wales helped keep people in work and provided crucial community support and vital services. The Social Enterprise Stakeholder Group believe social enterprise can now play a key role in helping to rebuild a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable economy as we recover and rebuild.

Social enterprises are uniquely placed to do so as organisations that operate on the principles of the Triple Bottom line: people, planet, profit. This ensures that their social, environmental, economic purpose is always at the heart of what they do.

To help the sector realise this potential and to rebuild a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable economy, we believe that the next Welsh Government should:

• Expand and strengthen the specialist business support which is tailored to the needs of social enterprises and co-operatives
• Continue to grow specific funding streams to support the social enterprise sector as it emerges and rebuilds from the pandemic
• Establish public procurement and commissioning policies and practices that embed social value and utilise local supply chains
• Should prioritise and utilise social enterprise solutions across all areas of Government and Ministerial portfolios
• Continue to prioritise the Climate Emergency and a ‘Green’ recovery and embed the principles of a zero carbon and circular economy
• Develop and implement policies that support inclusivity and diversity and Fair Work within the Welsh economy; harnessing the expertise of social enterprise to do so
• Launch an upskilling and investment initiative to build digital skills and infrastructure in the third sector (including for social enterprises).
• Create a new generation of socially responsible entrepreneurs by embedding social enterprise and well-being economics into economic/business studies curriculums in Welsh universities, colleges and schools.