When we started our Affordable Workspace collaboration with Islington Council in 2019, we were required to start collecting Social Value data. This was in line with the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures) framework. However we noticed early on that the Social Value TOMs are not really appropriate for measuring the value that co-ops and democratic businesses generate. They were conceived originally for the construction industry, and remain very much in a capitalist mindset. For example, we can input ‘wellbeing activities’ for staff (that’s stuff like a yoga session, an outing, or an opportunity to volunteer), but in our opinion, these things are less meaningful for staff than having complete control over their work, and being free of bosses!
We therefore worked with the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) to rethink Social Value, and generate ideas for additional tangible measures that co-ops and other democratic businesses could use in order to demonstrate the additional value that they generate for their members and wider communities.
The report was published in June 2024. You can read it here:
https://www.ippr.org/articles/an-alternative-is-possible-impact-cooperatives
An extract from the report
