In the Budget of 2007 it was a stated intention to increase the number of business starts and engender a more enterprise culture within the UK.
At about the same time recognising the need to improve the outcomes achieved to date in creating better social cohesion the Government set up within the Cabinet Office the Social Exclusion Task Force. The role of the task force which works across government departments is to focus on the most socially and economically excluded who face multiple and inter-generational problems and ensure that better outcomes are achieved. Socially excluded adults are prioritised in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.
The Business Support Simplification Program (BSSP) has embraced the requirement for the proposals to address the needs of disadvantaged groups. A number of government departments are working together to develop specific proposals.
It is interesting to see that the Social on Business and BSSP projects were running in parallel and a number of the proposals now outlined in the latest proposals are similar to recommendations made by the Social on Business Project Partners.
It is also of worth noting that one of the UK partners of the Project, Business Ability Ltd, was specifically mentioned in the latest BSSP response paper.
Two common viewpoints can be identified, firstly the need for consistent specialised support for disadvantaged groups and secondly engagement with the most disadvantaged through community based support.
