02/09/2026
Our response to yesterday's Programme for Government
The Scottish Government's Programme for Government was published yesterday and, as Scotland's ten-year Social Enterprise Strategy reaches the end of its planned lifespan, we strongly welcome the commitment to a new Social Economy Strategy.
The language is significant. Government talks about supporting social enterprises and other “socially oriented business models”, alongside co-operatives, employee-owned businesses and the wider social economy. That points towards a broader family of organisations and a bigger opportunity than simply replacing one strategy with another. This is why Inclusive and Democratic Business Models (IDBMs) are so important. Social enterprises, co-operatives and employee-owned businesses give more people and communities a stake in our economy, broaden ownership and help keep more of the wealth we create circulating here in Scotland, putting people and planet first. We must ensure we do not drift away from these democratic economic drivers.
It is also notable that the commitment sits within the Government's plans for regional growth. That makes sense as social enterprises are rooted in communities across Scotland, creating jobs, trading locally, delivering services and retaining wealth in the places where it is generated. The social economy should therefore be seen not as an alternative to growth, but as one of the ways Scotland can achieve stronger and more widely shared regional growth.
This is where the new strategy could be genuinely important. Let's connect social enterprise and the wider social economy much more clearly to Community Wealth Building, procurement reform, public service reform and regional economic development. At present, those connections are present in the Programme for Government, but they are not yet brought together into a coherent economic proposition.
Scotland has already set an ambition to significantly increase the number of Inclusive and Democratic Business Models. But the latest Social Enterprise Census suggests that growth has slowed, and achieving a step change will require renewed investment, stronger infrastructure and some bold new ideas.
There is also a question about how progress will be measured. If the latest Social Enterprise Census was the final one under the ten-year commitment, we risk beginning a new strategy without a clear baseline or a way to track the future trajectory of the wider social economy.
So the commitment is welcome, but the next test is delivery. We need to see the timetable, the evidence base and, critically, the financial commitment behind the ambition. Social Enterprise Scotland, working though the IDBM Alliance, are ready to work with Government, our members and partners across the wider social economy to turn it into action.
