The potential of social enterprises is being compromised by a lack of engagement and knowledge of their role withing local authorities in Wales.
This is claim of a new report from Audit Wales - the umbrella name used to describe the Auditor General for Wales and the Wales Audit Office - which says while there are good examples of some local authorities effectively collaborating with social enterprises, most are not promoting opportunities to widen their role and maximising their impact, which is said is due to a “mixture of poor leadership and inadequate engagement and knowledge of the sector.” To address this, one of its recommendations is for councils to do more to deliver their statutory social care responsibilities to social enterprises and effectively promote and develop the sector to deliver more services in communities.
Social enterprises, defined as having a social purpose, include charities, mutuals, co-operatives and community interest groups.
