Business support to third sector organisations contract review: research summary
Summary findings of the review of the business support to third sector organisations contract, the service known as ‘Just Enterprise’.
2 Business Support to Third Sector Organisations in Scotland: The Just Enterprise Service
2.1 This chapter reviews the evolution of Just Enterprise and describes the offer and how this has changed over time. Considerable management information has been gathered over the contract periods and this is summarised and analysed. The chapter also draws on research carried out at the end of the first contract period 2011-2014.
Evolution of the Just Enterprise service
2.2 The first Business Support to Third Sector Organisation contract commenced in June 2011, thereby initiating the Just Enterprise service as the first national business support offer to the social enterprise sector covering a range of services.
2.3 Prior to this, business support to social enterprises was provided through some individual contracts covering some of the services that were subsequently included under Just Enterprise. In the Highlands and Islands, for example, Highlands and Islands Enterprise contracted support for social enterprises, whilst in the Lowlands the Aspire to Enterprise consortium was awarded a contract for business support to social enterprises in 2008. The policy context at the time, as set out in the Enterprising Third Sector Action Plan 2008-2011, was one where there was an emergent recognition of both the need to support the sector to become more enterprising, and of the benefits of doing so [11] .
2.4 Geographic coverage of business support to social enterprises was certainly partial, and the service offer inconsistent. This led to the decision to develop an Invitation to Tender ( ITT) for the Business Support to Third Sector Organisations contract to establish a universal support offer to the sector.
Just Enterprise 2011-2014
2.5 Following the issuing of the ITT, bids were received, not just from the consortium awarded the contract but others, including large well-known private sector practices. The bid was awarded to a consortium involving a number of organisations with expertise in business support for the enterprising Third Sector and social enterprises. As mentioned in the introduction, this was a consortium comprising: CEiS, HISEZ, Firstport, the Social Enterprise Academy; and the delivery partners: Forth Sector Development, Community Enterprise Ltd, CEMVO Scotland, Lanarkshire Enterprise Services, Ready for Business and InspirAlba. [12]
2.6 The first Just Enterprise contract was initiated on 24 th May 2011 for two years. This was extended for a third year from June 2013 - May 2014 before the commencement of a new contract on 24 th May 2014.
2.7 The objectives of the first contract were ‘to grow and sustain enterprising Third Sector organisations, support the establishment of new social enterprises and develop social entrepreneurs and Third Sector leaders.’ [13] Specifically, the objectives centred around:
- For Third Sector organisations (including supported business and those that are equalities-led) to grow in financial resilience and sustainability.
- Helping Enterprising Third Sector organisations demonstrate a pathway to resilience, growth and operate as effective and / or growing businesses.
- Third Sector organisations winning more contracts, including with the public sector.
- That the response of the Third Sector to public sector application of Community Benefits Clauses ( CBCs) and Public Social Partnerships ( PSPs) is strengthened and maximised.
- New social enterprises and social entrepreneurs are supported to become established and grow.
- That Third Sector leadership is enhanced to support business development and sustainability.
2.8 Meeting these objectives framed the Just Enterprise service offer. A financial award for 2011 - 2014 in the region of £3m was made to the consortium to deliver a range of activity, and the contract value was subsequently drawn down.
2.9 Table 2.1 shows the contract spend for the first contract period 2011 / 12 to 2013 / 14. Total spend against the contract for this three-year period was £2,998,732. By far the majority of the expenditure was spent on service delivery, some £2,438,749, or 81% of the total, with a further £570,677, 19%, being spent on support activities and management.
Table 2.1: Contract Expenditure 2011 / 12 to 2013 / 14
| Year of Contract | Calendar Year | Contract Expenditure | Support Activities & Management | Service Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract 1 year 1 | 2011/12 | £1,021,846 | £206,100 | £815,746 |
| Contract 1 year 2 | 2012/13 | £1,011,153 | £180,617 | £841,230 |
| Contract 1 year 3 | 2013/14 | £965,733 | £183,960 | £781,773 |
| Total Years 1-3 | 2011/12-13/14 | £2,998,732 | £570,677 | £2,438,749 |
Source: CEiS
2.10 CEiS was, and continues to be, the lead partner in the Just Enterprise consortium, responsible for contract management. It manages the relationships with the delivery partners which includes agreeing annual budgets, approving applications and allocating cases to the most appropriate partner who in turn allocates the case to a particular adviser.
2.11 The Just Enterprise service comprised a number of service offerings, brigading under the three main parts of the service as outlined in the introduction (Start-up, Business Development and Leadership). For the 2011-2014 contract, the following targets for number of recipients by type of service were established (Table 2.2).
Table 2.2: Target recipients by type of service, years 1 - 3
| Type of Service* | Year 1 target | Year 2 target | Year 3 target | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start-up | 400 | 350 | 350 | 1,100 |
| Business Development Workshops | 358 | 431 | 414 | 1,203 |
| Start-up Workshop | 160 | 200 | 200 | 560 |
| Business Support | 130 | 155 | 155 | 440 |
| Leadership Programmes | 160 | 126 | 172 | 458 |
| Finance Workshops | 100 | 100 | 100 | 300 |
| Tender Workshops | 100 | 75 | 75 | 250 |
| Total | 1,408 | 1,437 | 1,466 | 4,311 |
Source: Just Enterprise Annual Reports;
*excludes client management service
2.12 The first contract targets reflected the nature of the service required by the specification, and so included specialist components (e.g. Tender Workshops) to meet the procurement-related objective. The targets also reflect the mix of Workshops (one-to-many) and one-to-one Start-up and Business Support interventions.
2.13 What is clear is that considerable volumes of activity were anticipated. Indeed, this was the basis of the consortium bid: to deliver short, sharp one-to-one interventions, based around a specified client need, alongside lighter-touch one-to-many awareness-raising and information (Workshop) sessions, which responded to sector demand. This model intentionally mirrored the Business Gateway support service offer, which similarly delivers a considerable volume of activity.
2.14 Efficiency and effectiveness targets were also introduced during the first contract period to formalise this Business Gateway-style model, which is based on a single point of contact for recipients / beneficiaries, and which anticipates both referrals into the service, and out and onwards post-service use (or to alternative support as relevant). The efficiency and effectiveness targets were:
- To create a single resource and enquiry point;
- To engage widely with stakeholders;
- To create a robust, efficient and fair selection process;
- To create active signposting / referral;
- To create supports for those not qualifying for one-to-one support;
- To deliver high quality business support and learning and development services;
- To build the capacity of Enterprising Third Sector organisations to respond to public sector procurement opportunities and Community Benefit Clauses ( CBCs); and,
- To ensure equitable distribution of service across Scotland.
2.15 Key to the effective delivery of the service was the notion of national geographic coverage and a consistency of service offer. From a standing start, there was acknowledgement of the challenge of delivering on a national scale. However, this was a strong part of the consortium bid and offer, and as later in this chapter and the report shows, this has in the main been successfully achieved.
2.16 The overall target volumes for service take-up in the first three years were achieved, as Table 2.3 shows. Some recipients received more than one instance of support. For most parts of the service, activity exceeded target, in some cases (e.g. one-to-one Business Support) by a considerable margin.
Table 2.3: Recipients by service, years 1 - 3
| Type of Service | Number of Take ups | Target | Percentage of target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start-up (one-to-one) | 1,231 | 1,100 | 112 |
| Business Development Workshops | 1,146 | 1,203 | 95 |
| Start-up Workshop | 676 | 560 | 121 |
| Business Support (one-to-one) | 625 | 440 | 142 |
| Leadership Programmes | 474 | 458 | 103 |
| Finance Workshops | 348 | 300 | 116 |
| Tender Workshops | 184 | 250 | 74 |
| Total | 4,684 | 4,311 | 109 |
Source: CEiS monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics
2.17 Start-up Workshops accounted for the largest numbers of recipients, 1,231 (26%), followed by 1,146 at Business Development Workshops (24%), as expected given the one-to-many support. It was anticipated that many workshop attendees would then go on to access one-to-one support, and again, as we shall see, this has indeed been the case.
2.18 In seeking to establish a national offer, efforts were made by the consortium to ensure the service was promoted across Scotland. Promotional activities included conferences, stakeholder groups and networking lunches taking place in all Scottish regions, given that one of the efficiency targets for the programme was to have a proportionate geographical spread of applicants.
2.19 In year 1, the majority of enquiries were sourced through members of the consortium. However, word of mouth, internet search and Third Sector events were also important. [14] By year 3, enquiries via organisations remained the largest source of enquiries; alongside internet searches. [15]
2.20 The first contract period was subject to early impact assessment work, and a number of case studies were produced. These sought to highlight particular areas of success for the first contract, including examples such as Stepwell where support from Just Enterprise to form plans for a new line of business resulted in a funding award of over £100,000, leading to business expansion and the employment of new staff [16] .
2.21 Overall the impact report [17] from year three of the first contract suggested targets had been broadly achieved. In terms of Business Support, 66% had implemented the support provided in full or in part with a further 16% being in the process of implementing support and 10% planning to do so in the future. For impact measures, of those who had received Business Support, 94% were still trading 12 months after support; 48% had either maintained or increased the total number of employees (for 34% support was not relevant to employee levels); 59% either maintained or increased turnover (for 23% support was not relevant to turnover); and 42% either had or were in the process of establishing new ventures as a result of the support.
2.22 Across all the Leadership Programmes a majority of recipients who responded stated that they made use of learning frequently and they had made changes as a result of taking part in the programme. In all, 80% had shared learning with colleagues and 75% said the programme had had a positive impact on their organisation (25% said it was too soon to tell). Further, 78% of recipients said they expected their organisation would expand over the next 6 - 12 months, and 98% stated that they felt better able to address challenges and opportunities in their role as a result of taking part in a Leadership Programme.
2.23 For Start-up services, 12 months after support was completed 60% of recipients who responded had either started trading or were in the process of being set-up, and 67% employed one or more person.
2.24 Apart from impact targets, over the first contract Just Enterprise also had targets related to efficiency and effectiveness. Within these areas there were a number of more specific targets and outcome measures. Targets around transparency, geographical spread, administration and setting up an enquiry hub had been achieved within the first year, whilst targets around promotion and delivery were mostly still on-going as Just Enterprise sought to develop its services. This remained the case in years two and three.
2.25 In terms of effectiveness targets these were set in the following areas:
- 80% of recipients fully satisfied;
- 100% of programme participants register for Public Contracts Scotland and the Supplier Development Programme, where appropriate;
- 25% of programme participants followed up at 1 month and 3 months after intervention;
- Contract management reports provided at least 5 days before quarterly contract performance meeting;
- Training provision to achieve 90% customer satisfaction levels;
- 25% of clients new to programme in each quarter;
- To manage contract spend and performance.
2.26 Overall, across years one, two and three, most satisfaction targets were met, although the impact assessment identified that for some of the Business Support programmes the satisfaction rate was below 80%. Chapter 3 of this review presents satisfaction levels across Years 1-6, with the majority of the measures of satisfaction above or very close to 80% [18] .
2.27 Follow-up rates were achieved and of those providing a response, training provision achieved customer satisfaction targets. The contract management report target had also been achieved, though with a revised target in year two [19] .
Just Enterprise 2014-2018
2.28 The six objectives above (at 2.7) were retained for the duration of the second contract period (May 2014 to May 2016). Between September and December 2015, a Scottish Government PhD intern undertook a desk review of reports (progress and evidence) produced by Just Enterprise to evaluate the progress made to that date in relation to programme objectives. This internal evaluation recommended establishing a monitoring and evaluation working group, comprising Scottish Government officials and members of the Just Enterprise consortium.
2.29 This group developed logic models in the context of the three key areas of support (Start-up, Business Development and Leadership), and based on these models, subsequently refined the programme objectives and research tools (e.g. questionnaires, training / workshop evaluation forms, and case study proformas), to capture further impact evidence against the programme objectives.
2.30 The evaluation also provided evidence to extend the contract in May 2016 for a further year (to May 2017), and in light of the PhD intern evaluation report, and work of the monitoring and evaluation working group, the programme objectives were refined, as follows:
- Enterprising Third Sector organisations to become sustainable businesses or grow where appropriate.
- Enterprising Third Sector organisations to achieve more diverse and sustainable income streams by winning more contracts through competitive tendering processes.
- Supported businesses to effectively combine public sector support and trading income to thrive as business entities while supporting disadvantaged employees.
- Social entrepreneurs supported to establish and grow new social enterprises.
- Third Sector leadership enhanced to support growth and sustainability of Third Sector organisations.
2.31 A further one year contract extension (May 2017 to May 2018) was awarded and the refined objectives at 2.30 were retained for this extension period, as were the research tools noted at 2.29 for further monitoring and evaluation of these objectives.
2.32 Contract expenditure for Years 4 - 6 has continued to be just short of £1m per annum (Table 2.4). From 2014 / 15 to 2016 / 17 the contract expenditure was £2,937,070. Over this time, £2,428,932 (83%) was spent on service delivery and £508,139 (17%) on support activities and management.
2.33 Expenditure over Years 1 - 6 combined has totalled £5,935,802. Total spend over the six years on delivery has been £4,867,681, whilst a further £1,078,816 has been spent on support activities and management.
Table 2.4: Contract expenditure, 2014 / 15 - 2016 / 17
| Year of Contract | Calendar Year | Contract Value | Support Activities & Management | Service Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract Year 4 | 2014/15 | £971,986 | £171,986 | £800,000 |
| Contract Year 5 | 2015/16 | £985,927 | £165,046 | £820,882 |
| Contract Year 6 | 2016/17 | £979,157 | £171,107 | £808,050 |
| Contract Years 4-6 | 2014/15-16/17 | £2,937,070 | £508,139 | £2,428,932 |
| Total (Years 1-6) | 2011/12-16/17 | £5,935,802 | £1,078,816 | £4,867,681 |
Source: CEiS monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics
2.34 Having taken place in May 2016 and May 2017, the two one-year contract extensions took place within an important period of policy development for social enterprise. It was 2016 when the Scottish Government published the Social Enterprise Strategy 2016 - 2026 and further analysis, particularly on its commitments regarding business support, is available in Chapter 5. And it was in April 2017 that the Scottish Government launched the Building a Sustainable Social Enterprise Sector in Scotland 2017 - 2020, as the first of three action plans outlining how the Social Enterprise Strategy will be implemented.
2.35 As the Just Enterprise service has matured over the contract extensions, new service offerings have been introduced. These have extended the range of Just Enterprise services, responding to both identified need (including political imperative) and to demand.
2.36 Services introduced included:
- Supported Businesses – an offer designed to specifically address the new contract objective identified above, through more intensive, account management style support. This was partly in light of the high profile closure of Remploy and the desire to avoid any repeat scenarios;
- Business Recovery – an intervention for established social enterprises facing a threat to their ability to operate. This was not a promoted service offering, but rather one that allowed rapid intervention when the need arose;
- Procurement – a one-to-one support service introduced to help organisations negotiate the tender submission process, building on the success of Tender Workshops;
- Pre-investment assessment and support – designed to build investment readiness in social enterprises, above and beyond the more standard business planning;
- Equalities – since the start of the Just Enterprise service, there have been specific targets for supporting equalities organisations, with the specification of targets welcomed by the consortium delivery partner CEMVO to ensure sufficient attention (and budget) is dedicated to this sector.
2.37 The additional service offerings were not typically supporting large numbers of social enterprises, but rather enabling bespoke services to be provided as needed.
2.38 Further, within the Start-up services, Lift-up was introduced, allowing support during the transition from Start-up to Business Development support, for certain social entrepreneurs. Also, although not one-to-one support, there have also been additional workshops delivered across a range of subjects. These have been developed in response to demand and in addition to the core services provided.
2.39 In addition, and more recently, Knowledge Exchange sessions have been arranged and introduced in Lowland Scotland. These have been designed to allow best practice and understanding to be shared between the Just Enterprise advisers, Business Gateway advisers, and Scottish Enterprise.
Monitoring Data Analysis
2.40 At the time of the review, Just Enterprise monitoring data for the service was available for the years 2011 / 12 to 2016 / 17. The data from 2011 / 12 (Year 1) to 2016 / 17 (Year 6) is considerable, and has been used to analyse the Just Enterprise service by:
- Service;
- Sector; and
- Geography.
2.41 In some cases, Years 1 to 3 (2011/2012 – 2013/2014) are presented alongside Years 4 - 6 (2014/2015 – 2016/2017) to show change over time.
Coverage by Type of Service (support instances to individuals)
2.42 As indicated at Table 2.5 [20] , analysis by service shows just over a quarter of instances of support had been received: one-to-one Start-up support (26%), and a further quarter of one-to-one Business Development Workshops (26%). The 9,922 recipients of support here (Table 2.5 to Table 2.10) relate to instances of support to individuals (as opposed to organisations from Table 2.11 onwards); often more than one individual per organisation benefits from a support instance (e.g. a Workshop) and also one individual per organisation often benefits from more than one type of support. If Leadership Programmes are included, more than 60% of the service recipients (individuals) have benefited from intensive support.
2.43 Overall, service take-up reflects the objectives for Just Enterprise in delivering Start-up support (41% of all individual recipients), Business Support and Development (39% of support) and Leadership (10% of support), with the Finance and Tender Workshops making up the remaining 10%. For Leadership, the support is course-based and intensive, so high volumes were not anticipated.
Table 2.5: Type of service, years 1 - 6
| Type of Service | Number of Recipients (Instances of Support to Individual Recipients) | Percentage of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Start-up | 2,586 | 26 |
| Business Development Workshops | 2,566 | 26 |
| Start-up Workshop | 1,466 | 15 |
| Business Support | 1,304 | 13 |
| Leadership Programmes | 981 | 10 |
| Finance Workshops | 633 | 6 |
| Tender Workshops | 386 | 4 |
| Total | 9,922 | 100 |
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics
2.44 As shown in Table 2.6, from Years 1 to 3 to Years 4 to 6 there has been an increase in the number of recipients (again instances of support). This has been achieved with roughly the same contract expenditure. In all, there were 4,684 recipients in Years 1 - 3 and 5,238 in Years 4 - 6, implying a lower unit cost for each instance of support.
2.45 Years 4 - 6 have seen an increase in the number of recipients for both one-to-one and one-to-many support, including a strong increase in the number of participants taking part in Business Development Workshops (+274), reflecting the growing number of workshops that have been made available. The numbers benefiting from Start-up one-to-one support and Start-up Workshops have also increased, by 124 and 114 respectively.
2.46 There has also been a more modest growth in the number of recipients taking part in Tender Workshops, largely a result of new workshops for Years 4 to 6 covering Tender Costing and Your Next Step.
Table 2.6: Type of service, years 1 - 3 and years 4 - 6
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics;
1 Instances of support to individual Recipients
2.47 Table 2.7 shows that more than two-thirds of Start-up support is one-to-one support (68%). A quarter is telephone support. The introduction of Lift Up in Years 4 - 6 is reflected in the lower numbers of overall recipients, and that Lift Up will not be appropriate for all. In general, as Chapter 3 shows, the mode of delivery is largely welcomed by service recipients / beneficiaries, who value the one-to-one support.
Table 2.7: Start-up service, years 1 - 6
| Type of Service | Number of Recipients 1 | Percentage of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Start-up 1-2-1 | 1,768 | 68 |
| Start-up telephone | 642 | 25 |
| Start-up | 124 | 5 |
| Start-up Lift Up | 52 | 2 |
| Total | 2,586 | 100 |
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics;
1 Instances of support to individual Recipients
2.48 As indicated at Table 2.8, core business support comprises 85% of all one-to-one support taken up under Business Support services. The other specialist forms of support comprise a much smaller number of take-ups. Procurement, with 65 recipients, has been the specialist support service most accessed. Business Recovery and Pre-investment Support were introduced later in the contract period.
Table 2.8: Business Support service, years 1 - 6 (one-to-one support)
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics;
1 Instances of support to individual Recipients
2.49 Table 2.9 demonstrates that of all the Business Development workshops, Social Impact Workshops have been the ones most accessed (15%) followed by Business Planning (10%), Equalities (10%), Pricing (10%) and Costing (10%).
Table 2.9: Business Development Workshops, years 1 - 6
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics;
1 Instances of support to individual Recipients
2.50 Leadership Programmes are available at different levels. As shown at Table 2.10, Pre-start Programmes account for 40% of those taken up, which is expected given that this is an introductory course. Just under a quarter have been the ILM Awards (24%) and in all, half of the Leadership Programme support leads to an accreditation (award, certificate or advanced). Some of the programmes have been introduced more recently (e.g. the Certificate) in response to recipient / beneficiary feedback for additional support at this intermediate level.
Table 2.10: Leadership Programmes, years 1 - 6
| Type of Service | Number of Recipients 1 | Percentage of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-start | 393 | 40 |
| ILM Award | 233 | 24 |
| ILM Certificate | 159 | 16 |
| Advanced Leadership | 97 | 10 |
| New Start | 89 | 9 |
| Your Next Step | 10 | 1 |
| Total | 981 | 100 |
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics;
1 Instances of support to individual Recipients
Service Coverage by Geography (support instances to organisations)
2.51 As shown at Table 2.11 (page 25), there were 6,697 instances of support to organisations [21] via Just Enterprise over years 1 - 6, although again organisations could have accessed more than one type of support.
Table 2.11: Recipients (Organisations) by local authority, years 1 - 6
| Local Authority | Organisation Recipients | Local Authority | Organisation Recipients | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | ||
| Glasgow City | 1,233 | 18% | East Ayrshire | 128 | 2% |
| Edinburgh City | 1,119 | 17% | Aberdeenshire | 125 | 2% |
| Highland | 581 | 9% | West Lothian | 120 | 2% |
| Fife | 253 | 4% | Falkirk | 116 | 2% |
| Dundee City | 243 | 4% | West Dunbartonshire | 96 | 1% |
| South Lanarkshire | 243 | 4% | Inverclyde | 90 | 1% |
| Aberdeen City | 199 | 3% | East Lothian | 88 | 1% |
| Renfrewshire | 196 | 3% | Clackmannanshire | 87 | 1% |
| Argyll and Bute | 194 | 3% | Midlothian | 71 | 1% |
| Dumfries & Galloway | 177 | 3% | East Dunbartonshire | 62 | 1% |
| North Lanarkshire | 173 | 3% | East Renfrewshire | 53 | 1% |
| Perth and Kinross | 168 | 3% | Eilean Siar | 48 | 1% |
| North Ayrshire | 167 | 2% | Angus | 45 | 1% |
| South Ayrshire | 167 | 2% | Orkney Islands | 9 | >1% |
| Stirling | 152 | 2% | Shetland Islands | 6 | >1% |
| Moray | 146 | 2% | Other | 8 | >1% |
| Scottish Borders | 134 | 2% | Total | 6,697 | 100% |
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics
2.52 As shown in Figure 2.1 (page 27), the reach of Just Enterprise has been Scotland-wide, and the support has broadly followed the distribution of social enterprises across Scotland (based on the 2017 Social Enterprise Census).
2.53 Figure 2.1 does however illustrate geographic areas where Just Enterprise support has been over- or under- represented. In all, over a third (35%) of Just Enterprise organisation recipients were based in Glasgow or Edinburgh, as the largest urban centres, although the Census shows that just under 26% are based in these two local authority areas [22] .
2.54 In all, around 15% of Just Enterprise service recipients are from Highlands and Islands. This is higher than the 10% share of population but is lower than the total social enterprise / Third Sector organisation sector base of 21% [23] .
2.55 Within the Highlands and Islands region, the vast majority of recipients are in Highland, along with Moray and Argyll and Bute. A far smaller proportion are from Orkney and Shetland, or Eilean Siar.
2.56 At 5% of the total, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire appear under-represented, although not as much as one would think given that only 8% of Scotland’s social enterprises are based there. Under-representation is more in Aberdeenshire as it accounts for 5% of all social enterprises but just 2% of Just Enterprise recipients [24] .
2.57 As mentioned earlier, service activity volumes have increased over time. Table 2.12 (page 28) shows the geographic spread of the service in years 1 - 3 compared to years 4 - 6. From this, it is notable that there has been a decline in the number of recipients located in the Highland local authority area. Recipients from the Highland local authority accounted for just 7% of participants in years 4 - 6 compared to 10% in years 1 - 3. This represented a fall in the number of recipients from the Highland local authority area of 46 (or 14% proportionally).
2.58 Of the ten Orkney recipients, six were in Years 1 - 3 and of the eight Shetland recipients, five were in Years 1 - 3; little progress (in this example) has been made in extending Just Enterprise reach.
Figure 2.1: Scottish Local Authority areas by number of Social Enterprises and number of Just Enterprise organisation recipients
Table 2.12: Recipients by local authority area, years 1 - 3 and 4 - 6
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics;
1 Instances of support to Organisation Recipients. The total does not equal 6,697, and is more as some organisations in Years 1-3 were also recipients in Years 4-6
Service Coverage by Sector
2.59 Table 2.13 shows recipients over years 1 to 6 by sector.
Table 2.13: Recipients 1 by sector, years 1 - 6
| Sector | Number of Recipients | % of Total | Sector | Number of Recipients | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Entrepreneur | 756 | 11 | Advice and Information | 59 | 1 |
| Arts, Heritage and Culture | 634 | 9 | Equalities | 58 | 1 |
| Community Development / Regen | 602 | 9 | Business Services | 47 | 1 |
| Employability and Training | 479 | 7 | Tourism and Hospitality | 44 | 1 |
| Child and Family | 364 | 5 | Leisure | 39 | 1 |
| Sports and Recreation | 298 | 4 | Community Café and Catering | 34 | 1 |
| Education | 269 | 4 | Local Authority | 27 | 0 |
| Disability | 259 | 4 | Addiction | 26 | 0 |
| Environment | 255 | 4 | Law and Justice | 23 | 0 |
| Ethnic minorities | 248 | 4 | Transport | 22 | 0 |
| Health | 231 | 3 | Retail | 20 | 0 |
| Voluntary / Volunteer Network | 200 | 3 | Wildlife | 18 | 0 |
| Housing and Homelessness | 191 | 3 | Community Transport | 17 | 0 |
| Care and Support | 165 | 2 | ICT | 17 | 0 |
| Mental Health | 161 | 2 | Animal Welfare | 15 | 0 |
| Youth | 155 | 2 | Conservation | 11 | 0 |
| Food and Nutrition | 143 | 2 | Minority Groups | 11 | 0 |
| Third Sector Interface | 139 | 2 | Other | 11 | 0 |
| Recycling and Re-use | 130 | 2 | Social Enterprise Member Body | 9 | 0 |
| Social Care | 108 | 2 | Government | 8 | 0 |
| Elderly | 107 | 2 | Men | 3 | 0 |
| Women | 77 | 1 | Carers | 1 | 0 |
| Community Resource Centre | 72 | 1 | Community Forest | 1 | 0 |
| Health and Wellbeing | 70 | 1 | Health and Disability | 1 | 0 |
| Funding and Finance | 62 | 1 | Total | 6,697 | 100 |
Source: Just Enterprise monitoring data, analysed by Context Economics;
1 Instances of support to Organisation Recipients
2.60 Social Entrepreneur is the most common ‘sector’, comprising 11% of all recipients (these are organisations who consider themselves social entrepreneurs that do not yet identify with a particular business sector). Arts, Heritage and Culture (9%), Community Development / Regeneration (9%) and Employability and Training (7%) are also represented. These comprise 37% of all instances of support to organisation recipients.
2.61 The work of social enterprises / enterprising Third Sector organisations in addressing equalities issues and in working with people with protected characteristics and the most vulnerable is clear (e.g. disability, mental health, ethnic minorities, addiction).
2.62 In terms of sector, years 4 to 6 saw growth in the number of recipients from sectors that had not been well represented in years 1 to 3. Most significantly this included 73 Social Care recipients, reflecting growth in the sector. There was also a notable growth of 221 new Employability and Training recipients and 169 new recipients within the Community Development / Regeneration sectors. All illustrate the changing nature of demand.
Summary and Conclusion
2.63 The Just Enterprise service was introduced following a successful bid from a consortium of organisations. It offered a national service, with a single point of contact, and a mix of one-to-many and one-to-one support, very much modelled on the Business Gateway service.
2.64 The Just Enterprise service has evolved over time, and new services have been included, either as a result of Ministerial decisions or a result of demand. Adding services has been a feature of Just Enterprise, which has had the flexibility to respond over the successive contracts.
2.65 Overall, it is clear that a considerable volume of activity has been delivered. The Just Enterprise service has been very focused on the service recipient / beneficiary, with more limited resources for management. The activity-driven nature of the service has reflected the establishment of a new service, and this has been achieved.
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