Today sees the launch of the Social Economy Alliance, a coalition of 15 social organisations, who will aim to lobby for a ‘social economy’ in the run-up to the 2015 General Election.
The alliance includes Social Enterprise UK, the Young Foundation and Locality, and will be housed at Social Enterprise UK’s London Bridge offices. Its aim is to develop a raft of policy ideas to strengthen the UK’s social economy.
Launching the Alliance, Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK said: "The last decade has seen huge progress in the social sector in the UK. Social enterprises and co-operatives are outperforming just-for-profit businesses; alternative banks have better returns on assets, lower volatility and higher growth, and a growing proportion of start-ups are socially-driven. A shift in the plates of the UK economy is happening.
“We must not allow the narrative about what’s ‘good for the economy’ to be dominated by those who want to stimulate demand for luxury goods with heavy social and environmental costs; or the interests of some very large companies that concentrate wealth in the hands of a few shareholders while paying as little tax as possible; or on pumping money into a handful of banks.
"We will press for things like extended use of social enterprise and co-operative models to combat the rise of fuel and transport poverty, and support for business-methods that reverse the current trend of concentrating greater and greater portions of wealth in a few hands."
Members of the Social Economy Alliance are:
- Social Enterprise UK
- The Social Investment Forum (an alliance led by Big Society Capital and the Social Investment Business)
- The School for Social Entrepreneurs
- Unltd: The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs
- The Young Foundation
- The University of Northampton
- Co-operatives UK
- Locality
- The New Economics Foundation
- The Community Development Finance Association
- Fusion 21
- PM Training
- Sandwell Community Caring Trust
- Buzzbnk
