Partnerships and Policy

Working with Government

Our work with Government starts with our conviction that to deliver tangible benefits for people and places, we need a thriving ecosystem for social impact investment. That system is most effectively created through a strong partnership between the public, private and social sectors.

We work with Government at every level to develop and grow new markets for social impact investing. We aim to help shape policy, to support incentives and tax relief for social impact investing, and to extend the evidence base for different models of social impact investing. We also aim to support the design of funds to extend their reach and impact, and we co-invest alongside public sector bodies to catalyse private sector investment in delivering social impact.

The challenge

Social impact investing describes a range of financing options with varying degrees of novelty or complexity. Our challenge is to explain these options simply. Part of this involves sharing the evidence that social impact investing provides an efficient, effective and economical way of delivering public services, providing not just value for money but the creation of public value through social impact.

Our approach

We work with Government by using our sector expertise, convening power, and influence to further our shared aims. There are three strands to our work with government:

Policy

We work with central Government to create policies that support the overall social impact investing market. In particular government policy is vital to the development of two market systems - social outcomes contracts and social lending.
Networks

We build strong relationships with key decision makers at the heart of Government, and long-term partnerships across the social investment sector which amplify our voice within government.
Investments

We identify and help Government and public bodies to invest in specific social impact investment funds that help them to meet their policy objectives in new ways. For example, in the arts, sports, and homelessness sectors.