Social enterprise leader Selnet has urged on the Government to help groups to get their hands on £600m of cash
Liz Tapner, network manager at the Social Enterprise Lancashire Network (Selnet) and Lancashire CRN Chair, said the Government had to cut the strings attached to a new pot money available through the Big Society Capital Fund. It will see £400m of money sat in dormant bank accounts for more than 15 years and £200m of lending from banks used to support social enterprises.
But, Mrs Tapner said that by insisting businesses provided a chunk of “social capital” on top of the cost of repaying loans from the fund risked.
She said: “Social enterprises will repay the money with interest and will provide extra social capital on top of that, but it is crucial the Government does not set the bar too high. The Government needs to take a leaf out of the private sector’s book when it comes to lending to social enterprise because those banks and funds which do it, make it easy for them to achieve what they want to achieve.”
The industry leader added that lenders needed to abolish the myth that social enterprises were not investment-ready if the cash was going to get to those which need it. She said a new £10m fund due to be launched early next year which will support directors in ensuring they are ready to secure investment.
Mrs Tapner said: “If you have volunteer directors on the board of a social enterprise, do they want to put their homes on the line just to secure funding? It is about making sure people are aware of what they are doing and that all the due diligence has been done.”
Civil society minister Nick Hurd attended a summit with social enterprise leaders from across the North West in Liverpool yesterday to discuss the Big Society Capital Fund. He was joined by fund chief executive Nick O’Donohue to look at ways to get the cash direct to social enterprises.
Mr Hurd said: “Social investment has the potential to transform how the social sector is funded, becoming a significant third pillar of finance alongside traditional philanthropy and grant funding.
The event attracted around 60 delegates from across the region to the Women’s International Centre for Economic Development (WICED) in Liverpool on Tuesday including representatives from Local Enterprise Partnerships, Chambers of Commerce and financial institutions joined social enterprises at the event.
Val Jones, chief executive of organisers Social Enterprise North West, who said: “This region has a vibrant and diverse social enterprise sector and the role of SENW is to encourage growth and help shape future government policy. With less public money around, loan funding is an attractive option for many social enterprises to help finance their growth. I was keen that the funders heard first-hand how they can best meet the needs of the social enterprise sector.
“The social enterprise sector in the North West generates about £3 billion annually, employs more than 50,000 people and harnesses the capacity of 30,000 volunteers.”
Click here for the original article in the Lancashire Evening Post and for more about Selnet.
