Transition Institute Launch

Date: 05.05.2011 08:30 - 10:00

Location: NESTA, 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE

Watch the event videos

Co-founded by Social Enterprise London and NESTA

The architecture of public services in the UK is changing. From the National Health Service, through Local Authorities to neighbourhood schools and libraries, our public services are currently embarking on a fundamental remodelling of structures and organisations.

In partnership with Social Enterprise London we have co-founded the Transition Institute - a new, independent centre for research and collaboration formed to inspire and facilitate new models of public service delivery which embed innovation and social value at their core.

At this launch event Sir David Henshaw chaired a lively panel session from practitioners who have already spun services out of the public sector or are in the process of doing so. The launch has initiated a debate about the culture and ethos of our public services which the TI will continue. It provides a platform for bringing together experiences and sharing learning, demonstrating to the legion of public sector staff currently rethinking service delivery that it is possible to transfer and can be beneficial for staff and users.

Mark Sesnan, Managing Director of GLL, one of the original and best known spin outs, welcomed the launch of the TI. Having spun out previously he would not want to have been privatised but at the same time he would not wish to return to the council.

The cultural challenge

Creating social enterprises, co-operatives, mutuals - or any other legal or organisational form - from a public sector body is a long and complex process. More than that it is a cultural challenge as Carolyn Clifton, a non-executive director at Inclusion Healthcare stressed. She called on those transferring to ensure changing ownership also changed the culture and approach to services.

Brendan O'Keefe from the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is in the process of transferring Children's Services out from the council, with support as part of the mutual pathfinder programme. On top of the challenge of his own transfer process his peers were bombarding him with requests for information to understand how to go about creating a new organisation. The TI will provide a central resource for capturing and sharing learning to respond to this thirst for information. 

Andrew Burnell from City Healthcare Partnership described his journey from being a nurse to the Chief Executive of a spun out organisation. The common thread throughout his career has been the importance of workforce involvement in the success of the organisation. He called for more employers to help release the entrepreneurial spirit of their staff.

Confidence is key

Ali Parsa, from the Circle Partnership, challenged those thinking of transfer to remember that being a social enterprise alone was not enough. They needed to be the best possible enterprise that they could and have the confidence to succeed. His organization was also looking to grow and had partnered with financial investors to provide the necessary growth capital not just the resources for running existing services. 

James Miller from Living Well responded to panel highlighting that there was no map to becoming a social enterprise. It was very important to share information, to learn from each other and to recognize that spinning out and running your own organization was not an easy option. It required hard work, energy and passion. But there were immense rewards from being able to drive and develop the organization to meet user needs.

Forming a community

The TI aims to help enable this process, enabling the creation of organisations with social value at their core, regardless of their organisational structure. The launch event was a call for representative organizations and individual practitioners to help form a community to shape the TI into a trusted voice of the sector, delivering ground-breaking research, advice and thought leadership.

Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise London and outlined the intention to create the Institute as platform for sharing and learning so as to realise the opportunity presented by open up public services. It would agnostic on organizational form and welcomed any involvement from organizations and individuals seeking to put social value at the heart of their organization.