‘Trade for transformation' should get tax breaks, says SSEC

From left, John Barrett, MP for Edinburgh West, Jonathan Bland, CEO of the Social Enterprise Coalition, Antonia Swinson, CEO of the Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition, Baroness Glenys Thornton, Laurie Russell, chair of SSEC and CEO of The Wise Group and Gerry Higgins, CEO of CEiS at a Westminster briefing, where calls for tax breaks and social clauses were made. Baroness Thornton was also presented with a statue for being ‘the mother of social enterprise’.

Social enterprise leaders in Scotland are calling for the UK's governments to introduce tax breaks for social businesses and social clauses in contracts.

At Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition (SSEC) briefing at Westminster yesterday, ahead of the launch of an official manifesto, CEO Antonia Swinson said taxation for social enterprises was ‘one of the difficult issues'.

SSEC proposals include tax relief for businesses where more than 25 per cent of employees are disabled, tax relief for social enterprises that re-invest their profits back into their local community and tax breaks for investment in social enterprise.

Swinson added that SSEC was working with local authorities in Scotland to add social clauses to the procurement process, which would help form partnerships with commercial contractors.

They have already been introduced by Glasgow City Council for contracts to develop the Commonwealth Games in the city in 2014.

With social enterprise in Scotland contributing up to £2.5bn to the economy, Swinson said it was time to be seen and treated as part of the business community.

‘Yes, we have some things in common with the rest of the third sector, but we create wealth, create jobs and deliver training. It's trade for transformation,' she said.

SSEC chair Laurie Russell, CEO of The Wise Group, which provides employment and training for former prisoners, said social enterprise needed to work more closely with the private sector if it was going to be successful in the competitive market.

And he stressed that social reporting would become even more important if local authorities were to introduce social clauses.

Compulsory clauses

Gerry Higgins, CEO of Scottish support organisation CEiS, said the Commonwealth contracts with community benefit, which would mainly be sub-contracts from private companies, could set a precedent for procurement in Scotland and that social business sub-contractors working with commercial partners ‘should be compulsory'.

Ten per cent of contracts will have a community benefit, with a third going to organisations providing employment and training, a third to small and medium enterprises and a third to social enterprises, which has already seen social enterprise involved in the development of the Glasgow velodrome.

‘Glasgow City Council has introduced social clauses. Social enterprise is a new element, not only with the velodrome, but other areas. It could be part of the whole Glasgow delivery,' said Higgins.

‘But social enterprise has identified a need for support in costing and policy as they go into a competitive area, and support in the tendering process, and that's what we can help with.'

The panel, joined by MP for Edinburgh West John Barrett, agreed that the money saved in the long term by introducing social clauses and investing in community benefit would outweigh any cost of implementing them.

• The Westminster event also saw Baroness Glenys Thornton, former chair of the Social Enterprise Coalition, presented with a statue of a mother and child from McSense, a Scottish social enterprise providing training and employment, which recognised her as ‘the mother of social enterprise'.

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