Duncan Thorp assesses the opportunities ahead that come with a change of government

It’s said that the first 100 days of a new government is the window of opportunity to set the scene, change the narrative and forge a new policy direction. 

With a new Labour government at Westminster there are a number of key opportunities for social enterprises, cooperatives and the voluntary sector. 

In Scotland, social enterprise and third sector development is generally the responsibility of devolved administrations and local authorities. 

But many policy areas that have a direct or indirect impact on social enterprises in every part of urban and rural Scotland are the responsibility of the UK Government and parliament. 

This includes the economy and currency, many taxes, company and employment law, trade and industry, some social security benefits, consumer protection, most aspects of energy and most equalities law.  

So what has the new government pledged so far that will affect us in Scotland? 

A new government owned energy investment vehicle, GB Energy, is still to be defined, but has the potential to slash household energy bills, ensure energy security and drive the growth of renewables across the UK. 

A National Wealth Fund Bill will invest £7.3 billion over five years in infrastructure and green industry and a new public body, Great British Railways, will oversee and co-ordinate UK track and train services. 

An Employment Rights Bill will ban the use of exploitative forms of zero-hours contracts, end fire and rehire practices, extend equal pay claims for ethnic minorities and disabled people and put flexible work into law plus other notable measures.  

There will be a removal of the VAT exemption on private school fees, a Budget Responsibility Bill will aim to make official forecasts ahead of government budgets and there will be new rules and requirements for private-sector pension schemes. 

Legislation to scrap the two-child benefit cap, introduced in 2016, will not currently happen, despite pressure from campaigners. There will be a “taskforce” looking at child poverty instead. 

Interestingly there are many policies that the new UK Government will replicate from what we have already achieved in Scotland.  

For example, the new government has pledged better rights for tenants in the private rented sector in England, will bring the English railways gradually back into state ownership and address the bizarre total privatisation of water, something Scotland never did and is virtually unheard of anywhere else in the world.  

There are many other practical, current policy initiatives where the UK Government could learn from Scotland, working in partnership with the Scottish Government. 

These existing Scottish policy initiatives could be low cost to implement but have the potential to achieve significant economic growth and economic prosperity for more people. 

The Fair Work agenda, including the Real Living Wage, Living Hours and a requirement for those winning public sector contracts to fulfil Fair Work criteria, have significant potential for the rest of the UK. 

Scotland’s Social Enterprise Strategy 2016-26, one of the world’s most pioneering strategies for social enterprise development, plus Just Enterprise and Cooperative Development Scotland, could be replicated. 

The new and potentially radical local economic development strategy of Community Wealth Building is a key area for learning too. 

In addition there’s Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) sub-group, aiming to significantly increase the number of social enterprises, employee-owned businesses and cooperatives. 

We’re a partner in the Future Economy Alliance, a broad, inclusive and innovative initiative, that will continue to operate as we seek to influence the new UK Government over the next months and years. 

The new government should have the confidence to take a new, more progressive policy direction for our economy - prioritising social enterprise, cooperatives, mutuals, employee owned business and other impact-led enterprises. 

It simply won’t be possible to achieve greater business productivity, economic resilience and economic growth without these business models of the future. 

It's clear that there’s much more economic potential for social enterprise growth in Scotland and across the UK - we just need the right policy support to make it happen. 

Duncan Thorp is policy and public affairs manager for Social Enterprise Scotland.