Social Enterprise in Scotland Census 2019 Technical Report CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 4 2. IDENTIFICATION OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES ....................................................... 5 Defining Social Enterprise.......................................................................................... 5 Basis for the Assessment ............................................................................................ 5 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 10 3. DATA CLASSIFICATIONS ....................................................................................... 13 Classification of Regions .......................................................................................... 13 Classification of Urban-Rural Areas ........................................................................ 13 Classification of Areas of Multiple Deprivation ....................................................... 14 Classification of Economic Sectors .......................................................................... 14 4. INCLUSIONS AND EXCLUSIONS FROM THE STUDY ........................................ 16 Arts and Creative Industries..................................................................................... 16 Community Centres and Halls ................................................................................. 16 Early Learning and Childcare ................................................................................... 16 Education, Training and Employment ..................................................................... 17 Environment and Recycling ..................................................................................... 17 Financial Services ..................................................................................................... 17 Food, Catering and Hospitality ................................................................................ 17 Health and Social Care ............................................................................................. 18 Housing ..................................................................................................................... 18 Information, Consultancy and Support Services ..................................................... 18 Property, Energy, Utilities and Land Management ................................................. 18 Retailing .................................................................................................................... 19 Sport and Leisure ..................................................................................................... 19 Tourism, Heritage and Festivals .............................................................................. 19 Transport .................................................................................................................. 19 Other ......................................................................................................................... 20 5. COLLATING FINANANCIAL DATA ........................................................................ 21 Types of Financial Data ............................................................................................ 21 Sources of Data ......................................................................................................... 21 Data Extracted .......................................................................................................... 21 Allocating Income and Expenditure Between Categories........................................ 22 Financial Year Ends .................................................................................................. 23 Financial Ratios ........................................................................................................ 23 6. SURVEY DESIGN AND ADMINISTRATION ......................................................... 25 2 Survey Method and Fieldwork ................................................................................. 25 Questionnaire Design ............................................................................................... 25 Maximising response rates ....................................................................................... 26 Survey Response and Representation ...................................................................... 27 Item Non-Response .................................................................................................. 28 7. CONVERTING RAW DATA INTO PUBLISHED ESTIMATES ............................... 29 Imputation of Financial Data ................................................................................... 29 Calculation of Gross Value Added (GVA) and Employment ................................... 31 Final Quality Assurance of Estimates ...................................................................... 32 Annex A: Organisations Examined in the Study ......................................................... 33 Annex B: Survey Questionnaire ................................................................................... 75 3 1. INTRODUCTION The Social Enterprise in Scotland Census 2019 is a collective endeavour of agencies with a shared interest in supporting social enterprise and growing its impact. The 2019 Census is the third in a series of biennial studies of social enterprise activity, aligned to the cycle of planning, implementation and review of Scotland’s Social Enterprise Strategy 2016-2026. The study provides a detailed profile of social enterprise activity in Scotland. It focuses on the scale, reach and contribution of this activity and the characteristics, health, prospects and needs of those organisations that are delivering it. The 2015 pilot study provided a baseline against which to track the changing scale, characteristics and contribution of the sector. The second wave of the project in 2017 provided an added depth of analysis. The third instalment provides a further data point that will help to reveal important trends. The methods employed in the most recent study remain consistent with those developed in 2015 and then further refined in 2017. This Technical Report provides further details about the methodology, the basis for identifying social enterprises and producing the findings outlined in the main report, and the availability and use of data compiled as part of the study. 4 2. IDENTIFICATION OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES There is no legal definition of a ‘social enterprise’ in Scotland, and different stakeholder groups have their own views about what the characteristics of a social enterprise are or should be. A clear, workable and widely agreed definition has therefore been essential to the study. Defining Social Enterprise The Social Enterprise in Scotland Census adopts a working definition for the purposes of the research based on the Voluntary Code of Practice for Social Enterprise in Scotland1 and agreed by the Census Steering Group2. This Voluntary Code is widely accepted as the basis for a diverse, self-regulating community of organisations that includes well established community and co- operative enterprise activity, the trading activity of community and voluntary organisations, and the work of social entrepreneurs. The Census report uses the term ‘social enterprise’ to refer to those organisations that are undertaking social enterprise activity. The study is therefore not primarily concerned with whether organisations recognise themselves as social enterprises or not but on whether they are undertaking enterprise activity and operating in a way that appears to be consistent with the Voluntary Code. The following sets out the interpretation of the Voluntary Code used in the Social Enterprise Census. It describes the basis for including and excluding organisations based on the Code criteria, as well as the associated limitations and challenges in the approach adopted. Basis for the Assessment The Voluntary Code of Practice for Social Enterprise sets out the criteria, values and behaviours by which social enterprises can be recognised and recognise each other. This Code continues to evolve. The main criteria set out in the Code are reasonably broad and therefore require some interpretation for the purposes of the research. The following sets out five aspects to the identification of social enterprises that have been included in the Census and which form main components of recognition under the Voluntary Code. 1 http://www.se-code.net 2 The Social Enterprise in Scotland Census Steering Group for 2019 comprises representation from the Firstport, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Inspiralba, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Government, Senscot, Social Enterprise Academy, Social Enterprise Scotland and Social Firms Scotland. 5 A. Social Purpose Definition The primary objective of a social enterprise is to achieve social and/or environmental benefit. (Relates to Criteria 1 in the Voluntary Code) Interpretation Transparency of purpose is a central element of being a social enterprise. To be transparent the social and/or environmental purpose of the social enterprise should be clearly articulated in the legal objects of the organisation. This means that the social enterprise pursues demonstrable charitable purposes or provides (or intends to provide) public benefit. This ‘benefit’ may extend to cultural,