Social!enterprise!is!defined!in!government!literature!as:!
...!a!business!with!primarily!social!objectives!whose!surpluses!are!principally!reinvested! for! that! purpose! in! the! business! or! in! the! community,! rather! than! being! driven! by! the! need!to!maximise!profit!for!shareholders!and!owners.71!
The! use! of! the! word! ‘primarily’! suggests! that! some! but! not! all! of! the! SE’s! objectives! are! social! and! that! profits! are! ‘principally’! –! but! not! necessarily! entirely! –! reinvested! into! either! the! enterprise!or!the!community.!This!indicates!a!level!of!flexibility!in!the!SE!as!a!term!of!reference.! And,! indeed,! the! term! SE! is! a! business! heading! only;! it! merely! describes! the! purpose! of! the! business!and!not!the!legal!form!or!its!taxable!status.!It!describes!a!sector!rather!than!defining!a! particular!form!of!commercial!activity.!
On!the!history!of!capitalism,!companies!and!law,!see!Rob!McQueen,!A(Social(History(of(Company(Law:( Great(Britain(and(the(Australian(Colonies(1854–1920#(Ashgate!2009).! 69!Hutton!(n!68).! 70!ibid.!Also!see!Norman!(n!11).! 71!Department!for!Business,!Energy!and!Industrial!Strategy,!‘A!Guide!to!Legal!Forms!for!Social!Enterprise’!(UK( Government,(21!November!2011)!<www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal7forms7for7social7enterprise7a7 guide>!accessed!November!2014.!
Although!seemingly!a!well7established!working!term!within!the!SE!sector,!and!a!term!regularly! employed! by! government! and! policy7makers,! the! lack! of! a! clear! definition! has! created! an! environment! in! which! the! general! public! may! not! be! able! to! differentiate! between! different! organisations! working! for! the! public! benefit.! For! instance,! a! charity! –! in! which! all! surplus! of! profits! must! be! returned! to! the! charitable! purpose! –! and! a! social! enterprise! –! which! holds! discretion!as!to!the!distribution!of!profits,!which!can!be!drawn!down!as!directors’!dividends!or! invested! outside! of! the! social! purpose! –! may! be! seen! as! similar! or! the! same,! despite! their! fundamental!differences.!These!differences!are!significant!yet!not!evident!at!first!glance!within! the!sector!–!or,!more!widely,!in!the!public!sphere.!However,!Gunn!et!al.!(2010)!argue!that:!! …!what!is!common!across!all!definitions!of!social!entrepreneurship!is!the!stipulation! that!the!major!underlying!drive!for!social!entrepreneurship!is!the!creation!of!a!social! value!that!is!produced!in!collaboration!with!people!and!organisations!from!the!civil! society!who!are!engaged!in!social!innovation!that!usually!implies!an!economic!activity.72!
The! research! from! the! case! studies! examined! during! the! course! of! this! work! suggests! leaning! towards! understanding! a! definition! of! SE! as! both! an! ideal! process! and,! importantly,! as! a! legal! form,! in! that! those! committed! to! delivering! local! social! renewal! utilise! the! appropriate! legal! forms! and! business! models! to! support! their! aims.! We! can! think! of! this! as! building! on! and! delivering!‘social!capital’.73!And,!if!any!term!can!hold!the!sector!together!more!cogently,!then!a! search! for! a! definition! of! SE! is! required! with! a! focus! on! ‘community! benefit! returns’.! A! ‘community!benefit!returns’!test,!which!focuses!on!outcomes,!might!offer!a!measure!for!judging! the!SE.!It!is!no!surprise!that!it!is!‘community!benefit’!that!runs!as!a!thread!–!the!crucial!criterion! –! through! all! legal! and! business! forms! dedicated! to! the! growth! and! delivery! of! social! capital.! However,! it! is! further! required! that! levels! of! collaboration! and! participation! are! indicated! as! measures!to!be!judged,!in!addition!to!community!benefit.!!
In!June!2013,!the!Cabinet!Office!claimed!there!to!be!some!180,000!social!enterprises!in!the!UK,! generating! £55! billion! for! the! economy.74! However,! it! can! be! noted! that! the! issues! of! meaning! and! confidence! in! the! sector! among! the! general! public! still! constitute! an! obstacle! for! the!
72!R!Gunn,!C!Durkin,!G!Singh!and!J!Brown,!‘Social!Entrepreneurship!in!the!Social!Policy!Curriculum’!(2008)!4(1)!Social! Enterprise!Journal!74.! 73!Tristan!Claridge,!‘Social!Capital!Literature!Summary’!(Social(Capital(Research,(7!January!2004)! <www.socialcapitalresearch.com/literature/summary.html)!accessed!June!2013.! !‘Social!capital!does!not!have!a!clear,!undisputed!meaning,!for!substantive!and!ideological!reasons!(Dolfsma!and! Dannreuther!2003;!Foley!and!Edwards!1997).!For!this!reason!there!is!no!set!and!commonly!agreed!upon!definition!of! social!capital!and!the!particular!definition!adopted!by!a!study!will!depend!on!the!discipline!and!level!of!investigation! (Robison!et!al.!2002).!Not!surprisingly!considering!the!different!frameworks!for!looking!at!social!capital!there!is! considerable!disagreement!and!even!contradiction!in!the!definitions!of!social!capital!(Adler!and!Kwon!2002).’!! 74!Cabinet!Office,!‘Social!Enterprise:!Market!Trends’!(May!2013)! <www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/205291/Social_Enterprises_Market_Tre nds_7_report_v1.pdf>!!May!2015(
development! of! social! enterprises.! The! Social! Enterprise! Mark! and! membership! to! Social! Enterprise! UK! (now! Fair! Business)75! have! attempted! to! provide! processes! through! which! SEs! can! be! recorded! as! meeting! key! standards.! However,! only! 450! social! enterprises! have! applied! for! certification,! which! stands! in! strong! contrast! to! the! Cabinet! figures.! Given! the! size! and! importance! of! this! sector,! its! regulation! and! governance! must! be! more! clearly! defined,! rather! than! being! held! together! loosely! and! carried! in! a! number! of! legal! forms.! In! 2013,! a! Cabinet! Office! report! noted! that! 56%! of! social! enterprises! with! a! ‘very! good! fit! definition,! found! regulation! an! obstacle! for! them! as! a! social! enterprise’.76! It! seems! that! the! sector! is! subject! to! tension!between,!on!the!one!hand,!a!lack!of!clarity!in!the!definition!available!from!the!different! forms! operating! within! the! sector! and,! on! the! other! hand,! a! wish! to! keep! things! flexible! and! open!to!interpretation!as!inclusively!as!possible.!!