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Social enterprise action plan

The Government's social enterprise action plan, setting out its strategy for social enterprise, was launched in November 2006.

There are at least 60,000 social enterprises in the UK. The action plan aims to open the door for thousands more, raising awareness of what they can achieve and encouraging more people to make a difference, either by involvement or investment.

The action plan includes commitments from 12 government departments and bodies – including the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Department of Health, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, as well as the Office of the Third Sector.

The actions are divided into four themes, which aim to:

• foster a culture of social enterprise, especially by inspiring the next generation to start thinking about the social impact of business
• improve the business advice, information and support available to social enterprises
• tackle the barriers to access to finance that restrict the growth of social enterprises
• enable social enterprises to work effectively with government to develop policy in areas of expertise

The complete document contains more details of these plans, as well as case studies giving examples of successful social enterprises.

• Social enterprise action plan: scaling new heights [PDF, 1.67MB, 73 pages]

Leaflets looking at progress in meeting the aims of the action plan one and two years on from its publication are also available:

• Social enterprise action plan: one year on [PDF, 199KB, 6 pages]
• Social enterprise action plan: two years on [PDF, 380KB, 4 pages]

 Hardcopies of the 'two years on' leaflet can be ordered by calling 0845 015 0010 and quote URN 08/Z3 and the title

• Have your say archive – view comments on the social enterprise action plan.

The action plan builds on the Government's 2002 strategy, Social enterprise, a strategy for success [PDF, 389KB, 81 pages]