The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and the business advisory firm BDO have published a joint report on the use of social investment to help finance council services.
The report, ‘New Finance for a New World', urges councils to work more closely with social enterprises to identify local investment potential. It advocates the use of social impact bonds, which pay private investors a return out of public savings, and says councils could act as social investors by setting up community interest companies or local social investment funds.
