Hazel Blears, MP for Salford and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government addressed Voice08 - The UK Conference for Social Enterprise, on 27 February at the BT Convention Centre, Liverpool. This is an edited version of her speech.

“It's a pleasure to be here in Liverpool to celebrate the work of the Social Enterprise Coalition, and the many and varied organisations you represent.
“You matter to people. You matter to local communities. And you matter to me. Not just because so many of your activities - from regeneration, to housing - are what my department does, and we need to work together as partners. But because you embody my kind of politics.

“Not Whitehall trying to guess what people's problems are and giving them a solution. But local people finding their own solutions, having a real say over the future of the places where they live.
“There is no more powerful force for change, no surer solution to the challenges all our communities face in a rapidly changing world.

“The Prime Minister has called for 'a politics that embraces the whole nation, not just a select few… that is built on engaging with people and not excluding them… a politics that draws upon the widest range of talents and expertise, not narrow circles of power.'”

We published the Government's social enterprise action plan back in 2006 and we've seen good progress on many of its recommendations:
we've got 34 ambassadors speaking up for social enterprise
we've got social enterprise becoming part of the business studies GCSE in September and there's a new focus on making sure the Olympics offers opportunities for social enterprises.

I want to highlight three areas where I'm pushing for further, real progress. First of all, I want to increase the access to financial support for community enterprises. In many cases, public investment can be repaid several times over, both in the way projects benefit the local area, and often by drawing in money from other, private sector sources.

Second, I want to make sure that community enterprise runs right through my Department's DNA. Not just a few officials, but a whole department thinking and questioning whether we're taking into account the contribution you could make - whether it's regeneration, tackling homelessness, or the £1.5bn Working Neighbourhoods Fund.
Our responsibility for local government is crucial - encouraging them to work with you not just as providers of public services, but also as local employers and stakeholders in local communities.

That's why we are forming a Social Enterprise Unit, a team dedicated to showing the vast potential of working in partnership with you. I want the team to be a beacon across Whitehall and to town halls.
I'm pleased that in some areas, such as the transfer of assets to community groups, your role is already recognised. Many councils are handing over buildings ranging from old village halls to courthouses, to provide a home for community enterprises. But many of you know that making a success of asset transfer means much more than just picking up the keys. To keep going in the long term community groups need to build strong partnerships and develop their business acumen.

That's why my third promise is that I'm going to keep working with business, encouraging them to develop stronger links with community groups. And I'm pleased to see that in very many places we're pushing on an open door.

For example, the developer John Laing and The Big Life Group are working together on Buildings4Life, which holds out the promise of delivering community-owned public buildings on a scale we haven't seen before. I want to build on that start and see a much closer partnership: businesses giving free advice to local social enterprises; sitting on the board of community groups; even wealthy individuals investing in ground-breaking community share issues to help build community enterprises.

This kind of partnership can only be beneficial for communities. I'm going to be trying to strengthen it.

“This is my offer to you then - I'm going to keep on banging the drum:
for better access to funding
for community enterprise to be in my Department's DNA
for a better partnership between business and the community sector.
And I'm going to keep on listening to you.”