Definition of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Organisations
Cornwall Council follows the definition given in the “Local transparency guidance – Publishing spending and procurement information.” The Code defines voluntary and community sector organisations as:
“a non-governmental organisation which is value-driven and which principally reinvests its surpluses to further social, environmental or cultural objectives”
Social enterprises are defined as “a business that trades for a social and/or environmental purpose and is a business which:
- aims to generate its income by selling goods and services, rather than through grants and donations
- is set up to specifically make a difference, and
- reinvests the profits it makes for the purpose of its “social mission”
Cornwall Council has highlighted the following of types of organisations which may have been included in the grants/spending extract.
- organisations registered with:
- Charity Commission England and Wales
- Office of the Scottish Charities’ Regulator
- Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
- organisations of social benefit, often registered as companies limited by guarantee, but which choose not to register as charities. (For example Business Improvement Districts which are not for profit.)
- hived-off parts of former statutory services, usually registered as companies limited by guarantee, or with the Charity Commission. For example:
- residential care homes
- sports and recreation centres
- housing associations. (These are not Capital Grants Payments, although these may have appeared in previous years data)
- co-operatives, mutual and social economy bodies and/or registered as Community Interest Companies (CIC)
- community groups with some degree of organisation, but without registered status
- ad hoc steering groups and economic and community development bodies, often newly-created for the purpose
- partnerships and hybrid bodies, with independent status
- churches and religious groups (where they are funded to provide socially-driven services, for example play for children but not preschool play groups or breakfast or afterschool clubs, older people’s groups),
- independent research institutes and units
- recreational and sports clubs of community benefit
- may include charitable funds held by any other local government body
Examples of organisations that are not included as VCSE bodies
The Council will not normally grant fund to the following organisations:
- NHS Trust funds
- educational institutions such as:
- universities
- adult education colleges (higher and further education institutions)
- all Voluntary-Aided or Foundation schools. (i.e. the maintained education sector, even where it has charitable status)
- all other exempt charities, for example private trusts
- work-based co-operatives and economic co-operatives such as:
- the Co-operative Society
- mutual building societies
- all Government agencies and non-departmental public bodies that have charitable status. For example:
- the Arts Council England
- the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
- the Big Lottery Fund
- sports clubs which operate exclusively for profit. This includes most professional football clubs
- private social and sports clubs that have a closed membership. (For example most golf clubs.) This is except where they can demonstrate wider public benefit.
