Community micro-enterprise in social care

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Social care is undervalued. Many of the problems affecting services – including ​‘factory production line’ care, poverty wages and poor working conditions, and the extraction of wealth by private-equity backed chain companies – can be traced back to a lack of recognition. Yet care is, fundamentally, a major economic sector, employing 1.5 million workers in England alone, with a mission to help people to lead the life they want, regardless of age or disability. As such, it has enormous potential to be a driver of inclusive economic development, both locally and nationally.

This report explores the benefits to local economies of one particular approach to care. Championed by social enterprise Community Catalysts, community micro-enterprises are small social businesses that provide care and support in diverse ways. In places like Somerset, where they have been promoted by the local authority, they have proliferated – with numbers jumping from around 50 to more than 450 over five years. A 2017 evaluation showed that the 223 micro-enterprises then up and running were delivering £938,607 in annual savings, while doing a better job of achieving outcomes than traditional home care agencies.

We find that micro-enterprises are:

• spreading a form of entrepreneurship that is accessible to and benefits a wide range of people, above all, older women looking for rewarding, flexible work
• creating roles that offer more autonomy and control than a typical care job (61% of the micro-entrepreneurs we surveyed feel less stressed and anxious since setting up their micro-enterprise)
• supporting recruitment and, above all, retention in social care (35% of the micro-entrepreneurs we surveyed would be unlikely to be working in social care if they had not set up a micro-enterprise)
• enabling more personalised care, by devolving decision making to people needing, and those providing, support
• building social connectedness, by helping people to participate in their communities and to develop and maintain relationships with others
• growing resilience, creativity and diversity in the social care sector, and in local economies more widely

As market shapers, local authorities have a crucial role to play in setting a direction for social care and in strengthening local economies. To promote models like micro-enterprise, we recommend that they:

1. Break through silos within councils and collaborate on the development of an innovative local economic strategy for social care
2. Set and resource a strategic objective for transformative care models that can support a shift from a ​‘time and task’ approach to more relational practice
3. Involve people needing support and their families in redirecting investment to where it is most needed, thinking creatively about wellbeing, social care provision and community infrastructure
4. Support the development of innovative care models by investing in specialist expertise and working with organisations that help people to set up sustainable enterprises.
5. Place a higher priority on collaboration within commissioning, recognising that this can encourage more personalised care, build provider and sector resilience, and deliver better value for money.

Photo: SolStock/​iStock