My Care In Birmingham

A new website helping people to quickly and easily find out about adult social care services has been launched in Birmingham.

The site, known as MyCareinBirmingham, guides people through a short series of questions leading to a page of information and contact details about council services or organisations that can provide social care support and activities.

Cabinet member for Adults and Communities, Cllr Sue Anderson, said: “We are changing to a more personal approach to adult social care in Birmingham, and adults who have been assessed as needing support now have much greater choice and control over the type of care they get.

“This website helps adults get specific advice and information at their fingertips, and provides details of adult social care services and support, from helping people to remain independent at home for longer, to helping them get out and about.”

The new site will be delivered in three phases; the first being the ‘advice and information’ section, which is now live. The second, to be launched later this year, will guide people through an ‘adult social care assessment’ online. The third phase will see the addition of a ‘marketplace’ that will promote adult social care services available for people to buy.

Visit: www. birmingham.gov.uk

Birmingham chosen for social work practice pilot

Birmingham City Council has won its bid to test a different approach to delivering adult social care under the government’s Social Work Practices scheme, which seeks to devolve services from local authority control.

Birmingham plans to set up an arms length social enterprise, in partnership with user led organisations, with the purpose of testing a different approach to assessment and planning support.

This will involve:

• a period of rehabilitation/enablement overseen by occupational therapists and physiotherapists
• an ‘expert patient course’ under the direction of a GP to ensure self-management of medical conditions
• user led advice surgeries, and the creation of peer support networks
• advice on work or volunteering
• reviews of benefits and finances
• access to telecare and telehealth equipment and services
• a review of existing social care packages and exploring of alternatives

The pilot will create new opportunities for people with disabilities to become more active and independent.

Cabinet Member for Adults and communities, Cllr Sue Anderson, said:

“I am excited about the development of this pilot in Birmingham as it will provide a new landscape for promoting and building the networks needed to support people in their own communities.

“Social work teams will be attached to user-led organisations and enablement services, so that an enhanced offer can be made to people with disabilities. This will help social workers to work far more closely with individuals, in the heart of communities they live in.”


Visit: http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/

Introducing AskTara

Details of telecare products and other services provided by councils in the region can be found on a new website set up for individuals eligible for social services support.

AskTara carries users' views on products, and their tips on other useful gadgets available on the high street.  The site is customised to reflect the branding of local councils and sits on each of the region’s 14 local authority websites; allowing residents and practitioners to find information relevant to their area.

TARA stands for Technology and ReAblement. The site is regularly updated with new products and information on service developments. It was developed by the social enterprise, Community Gateway CIC, in partnership with the JIP and Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands.

You can view the progress on the site at: http://www.joined-up-software.com/index.php/every-day-living-needs.html


Fact sheet:

AskTARA - your local council’s answer to helping vulnerable people stay safe and independent at home using assistive technology and telecare.

1.  What is AskTARA?
AskTARA is a dedicated online resource for those eligible for social services support. It gives information on the assistive technology and telecare products your council provides, and other services offered, including how to be assessed. TARA stands for Technology and ReAblement.

2.  What about people who are not eligible for funding?
AskTARA has a sister site called TheCommunityGateway.com, which is for all potential users of assistive technology and telecare.  It works in the same way as AskTARA, but the catalogue has a more comprehensive list of products, including those not issued by your social services or health provider

3.  Where can I find it?    

You can find AskTARA on your local council website on the home page of the Adult Social Care Services. Users can visit as guests without the need to register, or create accounts to rgister, or create accounts to save searches.

4.  Is it easy to use?
Yes. It is similar to the popular Amazon site and was designed to be
simple to use. The menu and home page give clear instructions on how to use the site. Users can quickly navigate their way around and find telecare and assistive technology products to suit their particular needs. A special feature of the site is that users can write their own Tags for products, and share these easy to read descriptions with others.

5.  How will I know what products to choose?
As well as listing the products and equipment the council provides, AskTARA carries reviews by other users about what works well and what doesn’t; similar to TripAdvisor reviews of hotels. Some of the products have videos showing how they work, and others have downloadable instructions and information, helping to decide what might be best, but also handy if instructions get lost. Apart from finding out for themselves what products are available, users can make more informed choices. The site complements what your authority provides already, and is not intended to replace advice and expertise from a practitioner, nor a full assessment.

6.  How does it work?
When users have chosen products they think are suitable, these are added to a ‘wish list’ for consideration by social services who will assess their suitability with the user.

For councils operating the Retail Model, users can review products which have been prescribed for them, and make informed decisions based on reading other users’ reviews and feedback. Practitioners too can read reviews to learn how users use prescribed equipment.

7.  Who runs the website?
AskTARA and TheCommunityGateway.com have been developed by The Gateway Community CIC, a social enterprise in partnership with the West Midlands Joint Improvement Partnership, and Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands. We are professionals and practitioners from health and social care working extensively on personalised care.

TheCommunityGateway.com is a national online catalogue providing a more comprehensive range of telecare and assistive technology products. It carries products which social services and health authorities do not provide. Whilst aimed at users, it is useful to anyone involved in assessing and planning personalised care.

AskTARA is the bespoke catalogue for those councils or health authorities who subscribe to the site. As well containing your own catalogue, it has local information on how to be assessed, and can be branded with your own logo, and organisation’s name.

The Community Gateway CIC maintains the site; moderating comments and Tags proposed by visitors; deleting old products, and keeping it up to date with new products, images, videos and descriptions.

8.  How will users of equipment benefit from using AskTARA?
People who use telecare and assistive technology will know what equipment exists to help keep them safe and independent at home. It will also make local services more accessible to them.

9.  How will commissioners of equipment benefit from using AskTARA?
Commissioners will improve their knowledge of the telecare and assistive technology market to support their preventative and early intervention strategies. The Community Gateway CIC can also offer commissioners reports on product quality and usage; what people search for; what they are unable to find, and what equipment is issued by other commissioners.

10. What are the advantages of subscribing to AskTARA?
It is an ‘off the peg’ site which prevents unnecessary duplication and costs. Subscribers can adapt the site for their own use, but will also have access to a national pool of shared information on latest products and equipment, and how they are being used.

AskTARA will help councils achieve their obligations under the Putting People First agenda, to provide information for users, and support early intervention and prevention measures.

For further information contact us at info@thecommunitygateway.org.uk or 0844 736 5718.



11. How can I find out more?

Embracing a new approach to commissioning

A New Paradigm for Commissioners? outlines the policy direction emerging from the government’s vision for adult social care, and the likely legislative changes affecting commissioners.
The document (which follows) has been produced to support the West Midlands Market Shaping Project.

Contact: Paul Johnston, telephone: 07847 318 672, email: paul.johnston@impactchange.co.uk



A new paradigm for commissioners?
This paper looks at the policy direction emerging from central government’s vision for adult social care and the response of sector leaders (in the form of the new partnership agreement). Finally, it anticipates the likely legislative changes affecting commissioners of health & social care solutions to provide a summary of the challenges – and opportunities – facing commissioners. The paper concludes that the region’s Market Shaping programme provides an opportunity for commissioners in the West Midlands to embrace the new paradigm and to deliver lasting value for people who use care services.

Capable Communities, Active Citizens

A new vision for adult social care.
The new vision is built around the government’s core values of Freedom, Fairness and Responsibility. It sets out seven principles on which the new social care paradigm is intended to be built and provides a number of clear pointers for councils and commissioning teams.

On prevention & early intervention:
“Councils can play a vital role in leading change and stimulating action within their communities. Their broader role in promoting health and well-being will be enhanced by the new public health functions outlined in the White Paper Liberating the NHS, and by joint working with GP consortia on planning and commissioning services.”


“At its broadest level, prevention depends on promoting health and well-being at a grassroots level. The Coalition is committed to giving local authorities the power and influence they need to lead change within their communities. Following the NHS White Paper Liberating the NHS, local government will take on new health improvement responsibilities. Councils will also take the lead role in drawing up joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs), which will shape the commissioning of health, social care and health improvement services. These developments offer councils a huge opportunity to shape local services to promote health and well-being and prevent dependency.”


“Councils should exploit the many opportunities to improve preventative services by:

• developing community capacity and promoting active citizenship, working with community organisations and others across all council services, establishing the conditions in which the Big Society can flourish; and
• commissioning a full range of appropriate preventative and early intervention services such as re-ablement and telecare, working in partnership with the NHS, housing authorities and others.”

On personalisation:
“Our vision starts with securing the best outcomes for people. People, not service providers or systems, should hold the choice and control about their care. Personal budgets and direct payments are a powerful way to give people control. Care is a uniquely personal service. It supports people at their most vulnerable, and often covers the most intimate and private aspects of their lives. With choice and control, people’s dignity and freedom is protected and their quality of life is enhanced. Our vision is to make sure everyone can get the personalised support they deserve.”
“To have real autonomy and choice people need information and advice. Lack of good, accessible information to help support their choices is a real concern for people. Councils’ role here is to ensure that everyone – whether using a personal budget or their own funds – can get the information and advice they need.”


“Councils should focus on improving the range, quality and accessibility of information, advice and advocacy available for all in their communities – regardless of how their care is paid for – to support their social care choices.”


On plurality & partnerships:
“There should be a fair playing field for providers, particularly for small providers who often struggle to engage with formal tendering processes but can offer very individualised solutions. Commissioners of services should work with suppliers in the independent and voluntary sectors to better understand market capacity and capability, and decide how innovation and best value can be incentivised effectively.”


“JSNAs will form the foundation of priority setting, encouraging greater involvement of local voluntary and community organisations. JSNAs will help local people to hold providers and commissioners to account, agree local priorities and inform a range of commissioning strategies and plans. This will be underpinned through new statutory duties for local councils and GP consortia to work together to promote the health and well-being of their local population.”


“Joint commissioning, pooled budgets and place-based budgets allow the focus to shift away from funding streams and onto people’s needs.”


“Simplifying the commissioning and contracting landscape by merging or sharing back office functions across councils and NHS commissioners can develop a more accessible, less costly process for suppliers.”


“Local councils should:

• exploit the opportunities of the NHS White Paper to play a lead role in their communities, ensuring local services are more coherent, responsive and integrated. Together with the NHS and other partners, councils should agree a shared view of local priorities and the outcomes to be achieved, and deliver commissioning strategies to meet the needs of their local populations – including the most vulnerable;
• work with the NHS and other partners to pool and align funding streams at the local level and alert the government if there are any barriers to this local flexibility; 
•  work with private providers, charities, voluntary organisations, mutuals, social enterprises and user-led organisations, and move away from traditional block contracts; and
• critically examine their arrangements for contracting service providers to ensure that the rules are fair, proportionate and enable micro and small social enterprises, user-led organisations and voluntary organisations to compete to deliver personalised services.”

On providing protection:
“Providers and commissioners of services are responsible for their quality and safety. They should ensure their staff provide safe, high quality care. This includes rigorous pre-employment checks and monitoring of their work. Equally, all staff need to see safeguarding and providing a high quality service as central to their role.”


On productivity, quality & innovation:
“There may be exceptional reasons for the council to retain services, but separating responsibility for commissioning and providing services should become the norm. It is crucial for providing choice for service users and carers, and increasing competition amongst providers. Evidence from a wide range of public services shows that choice and competition can be a powerful tool to drive up quality and reduce and control costs. Local councils with substantial in-house provision should look to the market, including social enterprises, mutual and voluntary organisations, to replace them as a local service provider. Benchmarking both quality and unit costs provides a useful reference point for councils as they grow a broader market of local care providers.”


“The current annual assessment of councils as commissioners of adult social care will be ended and replaced by a new sector ledapproach. Where concerns are raised about services, CQC will continue to be able to inspect councils. We envisage a robust system of triggers that can lead to inspection. For example, local HealthWatch organisations will be able to report concerns to HealthWatch England. It could request CQC to undertake inspections where it has grounds for concern about the quality or safety of social care or health services.”


On people:
“Local councils will play an important role, working with local employers in the independent sector and other partners, including healthcare workforce planners, to commission the workforce of the future and lead local changes for existing staff. Continuing training and skills development is a vital investment in the future. The Department will work with BIS and others to increase uptake of professional standards.”


“Local councils should take a leadership role in workforce commissioning in their area, including integrated local area workforce strategies linked to JSNAs. Central government will support and coordinate developments only where and when the sector demands this, with a particular focus on the smaller employers who predominate in this sector.”


Think Local, Act Personal


The New Partnership Agreement


Where the vision describes the desired ‘future state’ for adult social care, the new partnership agreement is intended to guide short-term focus and action aimed at making the vision a reality. It champions a new relationship between public, independent and community sectors, adding colour and texture to the “big society” rhetoric. At its heart is a “Framework for Action” that balances universal approaches with targeted support:

The agreement also makes clear the priorities for local action:

“Experience has shown that most progress in implementing personalisation is made where:

• Local leadership focuses on cultural change, just as much as systems change, encouraging concentration on outcomes determined by people and communities and engaging solutions beyond the narrow definitions of social care.
• People have real control over the resources used to secure care and support, with commissioning strongly guided by their decisions.

“Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and Community Budgets can be used to identify the needs of local communities and utilise all available resources. Commissioners across all public services will increasingly focus on people within their ‘natural’ communities, rather than service and organisational boundaries. The financial and productivity challenge will require integrated working between councils, public health bodies and emerging GP consortia to identify and meet local health and social care needs efficiently, using existing mechanisms and the new public health structures.”

“In bringing together health, well-being and social care, councils and their partners will need to integrate health and social care commissioning around agreed outcomes to support independence and enable the joining of social and health personal budgets wherever possible.”

“Councils and their partners need to understand their local context regarding care and support needs, and the relative supply position, if they are to develop a diverse range of high quality provision that people want. ‘Market Position Statements’ (of the kind recommended by the National Market Development Forum) and market development strategies can be produced to assist this. Commissioning and supply partners should collaborate across public sector boundaries to achieve better efficiency and support innovation.”

“Co-production is integral to commissioning activity at all stages in the cycle, rather than an add-on or one-off process. This will mean the range of support commissioned meets both identified need and people’s aspirations for the future within available resources.”


“Personalisation implies less council purchasing overall and less block contracting. Some existing contracted services may become unviable and will need to be downsized or discontinued, in partnership with people affected and the relevant providers. Arrangements that enable the individual (or their representative) to agree directly with the provider the what, how, who and when of any support provided, are a good way to do this.”


“Local councils will...wish to consider...The potential for self-directed support to deliver efficiencies in the business process of councils. For example, by focusing social work time on key functions and thus freeing up care management resource; and by enabling councils to better understand costs at an individual level.”


“The care and support sector employs 1.7million people and will grow to meet the future needs of an ageing society. It is a key part of the national economy. Social care is primarily about ‘person-to-person’ support, requiring the right people in the right numbers in the right places. Planning and development must therefore be adequately focussed on the needs of this sector to ensure its sufficiency during the coming period, with the right dialogue between employers and commissioners.”


Modernising Commissioning

A Green Paper published in December 2010 poses questions around four issues:

• In which public service areas could Government create new opportunities for civil society organisations to deliver?
• How could Government make existing public service markets more accessible to civil society organisations?
• How could commissioners use assessment of full social, environmental and economic value to inform their commissioning decisions?
• How could civil society organisations support greater citizen and community involvement in all stages of commissioning?

It’s likely that the subsequent White Paper will acknowledge the significant value that ‘traditional’ commissioning actions have delivered (continue to deliver) but will conclude that these are insufficient in themselves to adequately facilitate civil society. Consultees will point to the disincentive effects on the market of commissioners seeking to deliver value by letting bigger, better value (price), longer contracts. Political and civil society interest increasingly lies in more innovation in commissioning processes, with the emphasis moving from “contract management” towards “relationship building, risk management, radicalism, citizen involvement and social value”. And with political leadership at the highest level committed to the transformation of commissioning, significant shifts can be expected.


Conclusion
It is clear that commissioning is central to the delivery of the new vision and its associated partnership agreement, and inevitable that the White Paper will seek to shake up the role and processes of commissioning. The region’s Market Shaping programme provides an opportunity for commissioners in the West Midlands to embrace the new paradigm and to deliver lasting value for people who use care services.

Welcome JIP e-bulletin No 19 January 2011

A great deal has been said about the severity of challenges faced by public sector organisations in the year ahead. Our role is to help councils continue transforming adult social care despite these challenges.

That’s why we are using this month’s issue to take a closer look at social enterprise and its potential for helping local authorities to continue the job of transformation effectively.

The Department of Health defines social enterprise (sometimes called micro or community enterprise)  as a business driven primarily by social objectives, where profits are ploughed back into its services or the community.

Thousands of social enterprises already deliver health and social care services on behalf of the public sector, and the government is keen for more to get on board.

We will be holding a summit in February, focusing on shaping the community care market. It has been organised as part of our market development programme which is helping to create the conditions needed for different types of social care service providers to operate.

We have recently appointed James Woods as our new regional personalisation lead. His role is to support authorities in delivering the personalisation agenda and meet the Putting People First milestones. Read James’ feature on social enterprise and what it means for PPF, below,
Please keep on sending details of your council’s initiatives to transform adult social care, to us. The contact for submitting details is cathrinalouis@btinternet.com .


Best wishes for the year ahead.


Eric Robinson
JIP Lead on Personalisation
Corporate Director of Social Care and Health
Staffordshire County

Encouraging social enterprise to support PPF

James Woods, the JIP’s regional personalisation lead, gives an overview of how social enterprise can play a part in local market development and support the Putting People First programme.

Creating an environment that encourages social entrepreneurship and the benefits it can bring.

This paper will give a brief introduction to social entrepreneurship and the beneficial impact it can have. It will show that by providing an environment which unleashes social entrepreneurs, there is a huge potential for significant and lasting social change. Finally the paper will highlight some of the measures authorities can take to provide the environment for successful entrepreneurship. The paper draws upon the Research Finding Series created by UnLtd, the charity supporting social entrepreneurs, and other sources, the links to which are provided at the end of the document.

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

John Wood, in his book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, provides a succinct and accurate definition:

“Social entrepreneurship, to me, is a relatively simple concept: the melding best practices of the business world with the social focus of the charitable sector. Social entrepreneurs embrace ideas like reporting on their results, measuring the return on their investments, keeping their overhead expenses low, and constantly improving their programs. A new generation of leaders has emerged, eager to break with the historic legacy of large, bureaucratic, top-down solutions.”

This more ‘business like’ approach to tackling social issues is effective and aligns well with the coalition’s ‘Big Society’, which seeks to energise communities to find their own solutions.

Who are social entrepreneurs?

Social Entrepreneurs are normal people: there is no typical social entrepreneur. They commonly have a high degree of passion, creative ideas and a can-do attitude. Research has shown they are from a range of educational backgrounds, though often educated to degree or postgraduate level. They are more likely to come from the most deprived areas and there is an equal balance between male and female. A majority of social entrepreneurs are aged between 30 and 45 years of age, though not exclusively, and they are from a range of ethnic backgrounds, with people from ethnic minorities strongly represented.What do they do?

Activities can be local or in the wider community. Their solution can be anything from a one-off event to a nationwide social enterprise, and they can address any area of social or environmental benefit. In addition, they can be staff led and internal to existing organisations. The Social Enterprise Coalition's (SEC, 2009) State of Social Enterprise Survey showed the beneficiaries of the social enterprise activities were as follows:


Local People 52%
Young people (under 18) 45%
People on Low incomes 48%
Unemployed People 34%
People with disabilities 30%
People from BAME communities 30%
Women 28%
Organised groups, charities etc. 27%
People with physical and mental illness 26%
People with learning difficulties 25%
Elderly people 23%
Help the general public 23%
Prisoners or ex-offenders 12%
Other 12%
Homeless People 10%
People with drug or alcohol addictions 10%
People in other counties 10%
LGBT community 8%

It should be noted that projects often include more than one group of beneficiaries. Hence the figures add up to more that 100%: e.g. a group that supports unemployed females with disabilities would feature in all three areas. It is also noteworthy that social entrepreneurs on average target five different groups of people in their communities.

What impact do they have?

Improved Social Outcomes

The variability of social impact is staggering: from solving health issues, providing educational books, and increasing fairness, to inventing new approaches to environmental problems. Of enterprises supported by UnLtd, 59% were targeted at health, education, sport and recreation. Upon completion 40% of these organisations had produced publicity materials including broadcasts, publications and websites.

Creation of Social Innovation

Social entrepreneurs are integral to creating social innovation. They provide new solutions to social problems. Two examples of this include ‘Patient Opinion’, dubbed the ‘trip advisor of healthcare’, where patients can share experiences about NHS facilities, or Baharat Najib, who uses traditional Pakistani meditation approaches to tackle communal conflict and honour crimes in the Midlands. These innovative approaches are often repeatable, and research has shown that 36% of organisations have either been replicated or have plans to replicate their solution.

Economic Benefits

Social entrepreneurs have an important role in stimulating local economic growth especially in the current tough economic climate. This is demonstrated by a survey of 437 enterprises that received funding from UnLtd. Findings show they created an average of 4 jobs each and an average of 14 training opportunities each. Fifty percent of those who continued their UnLtd funded projects increased their turnover in the last year. This again mirrors the SEC (2009) survey, highlighting their value in the current economic climate. Whilst the majority of social entrepreneurs start small-scale projects, a small proportion expand and generate significant turnover.

Increased Social Capital

Social capital facilitates individual or collective action and is generated by networks of relationships, reciprocity and trust. It is integral for democracy and community cohesion, creating bonding between social groups, as well as bridging any divisions between them. This is a central focus and outcome of the coalition government’s ‘Big Society’ policy.

In relation to this, research has found 53% of projects enhance social capital by forming new networks, providing education, increasing familiarity and generating interest from local businesses and local authorities. According to UnLtd, of the 437 social entrepreneurs it supported, 15 volunteer positions on average were created in the projects set up.

The Multiplier Effect

The creation of social entrepreneurs and the effects that they have, both economically and socially, can be measured to a greater or lesser degree. What is more subtle and harder to measure is the wider effect of having these people working in and for your communities. Essentially these people are community assets that are generative, and as they grow they pass on their knowledge and passion, thus creating a virtuous circle which provides positive role models and success stories in environments where there are often few positive influences.

Reasons Social Ventures Fail

Research shows that social ventures predominantly fail or end owing to the following reasons.

• Lack of funding 24% The social venture was unable to gain further funding and could no longer operate without this.

• Internal 22% The social venture was not able to operate effectively because of internal factors (such as the cost of administration outweighing resources)

• Aim Achieved 20% The social venture met the original need, provided the necessary service or produced what it intended to.

• Personal 17% The individual setting up the social venture chose not to continue for personal reasons such as having a child or pursuing a job.

• Contextual 11% External factors changed such as vital partnerships or necessary networks and the social venture could no longer operate as a result.

• Progression 7% The social venture was co-opted by another service, developed differently to meet a different need or operated in a very different way.

It seems that several of the areas of failure could be inexpensively supported by authorities who could utilise their existing expertise, including assistance in administration, access to relevant networks and funding opportunities. This would increase the likelihood of success and associated societal benefits.

Creating the environment for Social Entrepreneurs

As we have seen social entrepreneurs are passionate and highly motivated individuals who are willing to work and put in a great deal of effort in ventures that have high social impact. Is your organisation able to provide the best environment for them to succeed?

Below are a few statements to ask yourself, the result of which will give you a quick self-assessment of your current position.

• My organisation is attractive to social entrepreneurs, and I have a good understanding of what social entrepreneurs have to offer in my area.
• I have measures in place that recognises the number of, and understand the effects that social enterprises have both inside and outside of my organisation.
• My systems and processes are un-bureaucratic and accessible to those who are motivated and express an interest.
• Our organisational culture welcomes new ways of operating.
• I know of the other organisations which support social entrepreneurs, and work with them to ensure consistency of approach and the maximisation of opportunities for all.

If the answer to these statements is an emphatic yes, then you are in a strong position and are already developing a healthy environment for social entrepreneurs. If the answer is no or you are unsure then there may be some further work to do.

Conclusion

Social entrepreneurs are often ordinary people who understand and deliver practical solutions to social problems, and as such, are extraordinary in the work that they do. They create publications, products and services, safer schools, better neighbourhoods and healthier stronger communities. Overall, social entrepreneurship has the potential to accelerate the delivery of the ‘Big Society’, and to address the social and environmental problems that the UK faces today and into the future.
For an authority trying to create ‘plurality of supply’, supports for social entrepreneurs will lead to a diverse supply base, high returns on investment and far-reaching social benefits.

This paper has aimed to provide an initial overview of this interesting and valuable sector. If you have found it useful and wish to discuss your ideas further, or want support in developing your entrepreneurial environment, please feel free to contact James Woods at the following e-mail address James@JW-consulting.com.

Useful links

Social entrepreneur organisations:

• http://www.unltd.org.uk
• http://www.venturenavigator.co.uk/content/612
• http://www.socialenterprisewm.org.uk/

General:

• Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition, Sally Osberg and Roger Martin
• Everyone a Changemaker: Social Entrepreneurship's Ultimate Goal, Bill Drayton
• List of Social Entrepreneurship Organizations on WiserEarth
• What is Social Entrepreneurship
• Profile of a Social EntrepreneurThe Empowering Blog - Social Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Projects

Further reading:

• David Bornstein, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Oxford University Press (and others) ISBN 0-19-513805-8
• Charles Leadbeater, The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur, Demos, 1996
• Joanna Mair, Jeffrey Robinson, and Kai Hockerts, Social Entrepreneurship, Palgrave, 2006. ISBN 1-4039-9664-4
• Peredo, A. M., & McLean, M. 2006. Social Entrepreneurship: A Critical Review of the Concept. Journal of World Business, 41(1): 56-65.
• John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan, The Power of Unreasonable People: How Entrepreneurs Creates Markets to Change the World, Harvard Business Press, 2008
• Robert Gunn and Christopher Durkin, Social Entrepreneurship: A Skills Approach, Policy Press, 2010
• Mark B. Durieux and Robert A. Stebbins, Social Entrepreneurship for Dummies, Wiley, 2010.
• J. Mark Munoz, International Social Entrepreneurship, Business Expert Press, 2010.

Supporting Micromarket Development: A Practical Guide for Local Authorities

Available free of charge, the guide gives advice to local authorities on how to support and stimulate the growth of local micro markets providing social care.

Micro social care enterprises are seen by DH as important elements of a diverse market providing more choice for people.

Providers of micro (very small) social care and support services are independent of other organisations.

They can be based on one of a number of business models including sole trader, partnership, small business, social enterprise, not for profit, charity or voluntary organisation.

Services can also be delivered on a voluntary or barter basis with no business model at all, motivated solely by the desire to help other people.

Examples of micro services include:

• Small care homes
• Supported housing
• Domiciliary care
• Brokerage, advocacy and planning services
• Holidays and short breaks

Services can be bought by individuals funding their own care or through direct payments and personal budgets, or can commissioned directly by public sector bodies.

Micro enterprises set up and managed by local people are well placed to deliver individualised services to individuals living in the same community.

Read more