Putting third sector first
THE boss of a leading not-for-profit organisation in Middlesbrough will be one of only a handful of professionals from the third sector taking part in a summit today with Cabinet heavyweights Peter Mandelson and Hazel Blears.
Terry Murphy chief executive of Community Ventures Limited (CVL), which generates around £500,000 a year for community projects on Teesside, will use the opportunity to press for social clauses to be included in all public sector procurement.
He also wants to see local authorities and other public sector bodies required to guarantee a proportion of their spend to the third sector to ensure the viability of more not-for-profit businesses, many of which suffer from being unable to build capacity.
The Government, which has dedicated an entire department within the cabinet office to promoting the third sector headed by its own minister Kevin Brennan, has already said it sees an increasing role for such organisations in the delivery of public sector contracts.
Mr Murphy said he was delighted to have been asked to the summit and the presence of business secretary Lord Mandelson and local government and communities chief Mrs Blears demonstrated the importance the Government attached to it. However he warned that positive discrimination towards the third sector was needed if it was to step up to the plate.
“If a local authority, the police, fire brigade or other public sector body identifies a small community group which has the potential to become a social enterprise, it will need intensive work over a number of years and some guarantee to make it viable.
If they can work with them to build on capacity, that will have a real, practical difference on the ground rather than a theoretical one.”
He also wanted to see procurement officers build a social impact clause into all public sector tendering processes.
“If the private sector can deliver on that - fantastic for everybody. But the social sector is more ideally placed because it’s part of its remit,” he said.
Changes to the procurement process are being backed by Dari Taylor, Stockton South MP, who was one of 17 MPs supporting an early day motion last week urging the Government to make better use of social enterprises in rebalancing the economy after recession.
She said: “‘I signed early day motion because I believe that social enterprises are innovative and creative.”
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