£500m jobs fund called for in social entrepreneurship manifesto

'There needs to be more start-up support, more education and more risk taking. And there needs to be more investment at a local level, which will save money by cutting out the middle management'

 

Nick Temple, SSE policy and communications director

A £500m jobs fund specifically for social entrepreneurs is one of five big asks being called for today by an influential group of sector leaders.

The Social Entrepreneurship Policy Group has published a manifesto calling for the government to create something similar to the Future Jobs Fund, a £1bn programme from the Department for Work and Pensions that funds six-month work placements for the long-term unemployed.

However, the group - a partnership between chief executives and policy makers at the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), Ashoka, Changemakers, CAN, Training for Life and UnLtd - said the loans and grants in an entrepreneurs fund should be focused on enterprise, apprenticeships, employability skills and sustainable employment.

The manifesto comes a week ahead of the official launch of the Social Enterprise Coalition's manifesto, which is also expected to call for a sector job fund.

SSE has also asked for a government commitment to get 125,000 young people into social enterprise programmes by 2015, £25m dedicated to practical skills development, at least one community-led asset in every town and city and £500,000 of local authority investment to encourage innovation on a local level.

Nick Temple, SSE's director of policy and communications, said the manifesto had been devised to represent 'a broader spectrum' and more start-ups than the coalition's.

'Given Labour's focus on unemployment and creating new enterprises, and the Tory's focus on grassroots enterprise, we felt there was a real need for a manifesto from our partnership,' he said.

'There needs to be more start-up support, more education and more risk taking. And there needs to be more investment at a local level, which will save money by cutting out the middle management.

'This manifesto is what we think should be in place over the next five to 15 years. They are ambitions and while we're realistic, we think they are achievable.'

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