張超雄﹕社會企業 公關扶貧？ ——看看英國與西班牙

(明報) 10月 09日


【明報專訊】近期社會企業就像「概念股」，成了特首的炒作題材，繼年初競逐連任時一度熱捧，即將發表的施政報告，社企也將再度炒熱，正式上場成為特首「以工代賑」的主要扶貧策略，但具體細節仍待落實，實質成效甚至可行性均成疑問。究竟發展社企的目標是解決貧窮，還是長遠作為促進社區共融的手段，是政府必須釐清的課題。
事實上，現時本港社企只有200多家，共聘用了千多人。這個數字不論相對360萬的勞動人口，還是16萬的失業人口，都是九牛一毛。即使政府能將之「翻十番」，規模仍與扶貧目標相距甚遠。何脫離公共或私人資助而自負盈虧的社企大多艱苦經營，能長遠經營的更只有鳳毛麟角。將以就業培訓和輔助收入為本的社企，提升至解決貧富不均的層次，只會將社企置於尷尬位置，反而掩蓋社企的真正社會效益。
筆者與數位立法會 議員上月到訪西班牙 和英國 ，考察當地社企發展。兩國經驗或可從側面說明本港要發展社企，將會是困難重重。
在西班牙和英國，社企均有悠長歷史。在西班牙，社企規模非常龐大，由上世紀30年代的合作社運動催生，對抗佛朗哥（Francisco Franco）的法西斯獨裁，是國家發展的重要部分。
西班牙社企僱員佔勞動人口25%
時至今天，西班牙社企所聘僱員已佔整體勞動人口25%，經濟產值相等於國民生產總值7%，其產生的社會效益更是無可比擬。其中蒙德拉貢（Mondragon）為世界規模最大的社企，聘用僱員逾8萬人，從事多元化業務，更自設教育中心，致力培訓社企人才。即使英國社企規模相對較小，但其佔國民生產總值仍達1%，聘用僱員達勞動人口的5%。
兩國發展社企能夠成功，政府充分投入和社會廣泛認同是必然因素。西班牙有所謂「社會經濟」（social economy）的概念，政府角色甚至明文載入憲法內。從這個概念出發，政府十分提倡非純市場的經濟活動，社企和其他資助計劃遍地開花，逾51%社企開業5年後仍相當活躍。
從西班牙政府對社企的支持，我們實際可以看出社會對於弱勢社群的重視，這正正是本港缺少的主要條件。立法會訪問團曾往探訪當地盲人機構，這所盲人機構擁有過千服務單位，同時經營數十個社企項目。其中經營彩票賣買的社企聘用大量視障人士，獲政府特許經營，城中大街小巷均設落注點，全部收益撥歸機構。由於收益龐大，機構有充裕資金提升服務之餘，更可投資其他生意項目，令社企長遠維持強大生命力。政府將「明賺」項目讓出，供由社福機構的社企經營，足以證明政府對當地社福機構信心十足，亦說明社會整體對弱勢社群的無限支持。
英國社企擁明確法律地位
在英國，社企擁有明確的法律地位。針對社企在借貸和稅務等方面的特殊困難，政府修訂《公司法》，社企被統一稱為「社會利益公司」（community interest companies）。另一方面，此舉方便政府建立機制，加強社企的問責性，確保社企貫徹社會目標。英國大部分社企均以競投政府合約維持，政府採購人員因而必須對社企清楚認識。為此，英國政府致力培訓人員敏感度，甚至與社企簽訂約章，確立兩者伙伴關係。政府合約更有「社會條款」（social clause），確保競投合約的企業能實踐社會責任。
兩國社企有相當發展，全賴政府對社企的態度認真，絕非「忽然熱中」。英國政府設有部長級的專門部門，處理社企相關政策，直屬內閣辦公廳；西班牙政府以同樣規格處理社企政策，透過建立社企與商界、工會和政府的溝通平台，不但釋除工會認為社企削弱工人力量的疑慮，同時亦化解商界誤解，不會認為社企與民爭利，反而願意持續為社企發展提供專業意見。
反觀本港，過去政府雖向社企提供種子基金，但政府部門對社企認識不多，造成政策自相矛盾。政策局重組後，社企由福利轉移至涉獵甚廣的民政事務範疇，可見政府對社企根本未有清晰定位，民政事務局 變相肩負「授魚不如授漁」的扶貧工作，亦顯得不倫不類。
社企經特首一番炒作，社會對社企充滿期望。但社企要發展至相當規模，方能發揮一定扶貧作用，期間過程必然漫長，政府亦不可能將自己定位為推動商界支持的純粹「促進者」，更應是切實的「參與者」。何別國根本不會以社企作為主要扶貧手段，因為要解決貧富不均，改革稅制和社會保障制度是必然出路。
作者是立法會議員（社會福利界）

長實新地籌辦社會企業

(明報) 10月 11日
明報專訊】施政報告亦提到，政府有意大力發展社會企業，邀請商界及非牟利團體一同開展計劃，並準備年底前召開社會企業高峰會。經政府初步接觸下，長江實業 、新鴻基地產 皆會參與社會企業計劃
曾蔭權表示，社會企業目標是使企業、非政府組織及個人找尋新的營業模式，增加就業，減少對綜援 的依賴。但他指香港的社會企業只屬初期，未到成熟期，其他社會到成熟期時，對本地生產總值的比重更加強，他強調﹕「我們現在有條件做，所以我們應該要做。」
新地發言人表示，公司計劃與某間NGO合作，協助失業人士成立清潔公司，由新地旗下公司派出有經驗員工，教授清潔工種的技術，例如滅蟲、垃圾處理、垃圾回收等；另會與香港盲人輔導會合作，安排視障人士在新地旗下屋苑會所，向住戶提供按摩服務。
長實 則會為弱勢社群提供就業機會，長實發言人指現與一個NGO合作籌備社會企業，在長實（包括和記黃埔 ）管理的酒店及屋苑會所，提供按摩服務，讓再培訓局的學員重投勞動市場。
新世界旗下新創建集團發言人則表示，公司正構思籌組社會企業，方向是為青少年提供就業機會。
基督教豐盛職業訓練中心董事紀治興強調，「社會企業不是做慈善，不能將它視為「庇護工場」。他指社企要自給自足，賺取利益才能有長遠發展。其中心在87年成立時資金僅400萬元，現時流動資金已達1000萬元，每年收入數百萬元。
“再培訓課程名額由每年10萬個，增至09/10年度20萬個”

政府研擴大社企範圍

(星島) 10月 03日

特首曾蔭權即將發表的《施政報告》，將會大力推動社會企業，增加就業機會。政府早前委託港大就本地及海外社會企業作詳細研究，希望重新為本港近四百個自稱社會企業作一定位，設清晰定義以助制定相應政策。據了解，港府除了繼續透過現行機制資助社企的成立外，還打算擴大社企的定義，鼓勵私人機構聘用弱勢社群等，但這類機構不能分紅。獲評定為社企的機構，將會獲得褒獎。
　　民政事務局 在今年六月初舉行一場大型社會企業交流會，並將在十二月召開高峰會。配合社會企業的推動，當局在六月委託港大就社會企業進行一詳盡研究，由港大社會工作系副教授羅致光負責，今年十一月向民政事務局提交報告及建議。
　　四百社企有待認定
　　不過，現有逾四百個自稱為社會企業的項目，為數眾多，但社會企業定義有欠清晰，且未能推動商界積極參與，希望社會企業可重新定位，包括日後社企發展路、以地區為本的社企如何創造就業機會、政府協助營辦的角色等，港大早前已刊登廣告邀請本地社企接受問卷訪問，並已完成向外國社企「取經」。
　　羅致光證實，現正努力就社企現況、目標及營運困難展開研究，希望年底前完成詳細報告。港大社會行政學系教授梁祖彬稱以接觸數百個社企為目標，初步發現，社企不一定只由社福機構協辦，商界企業同樣可以，但須仔細研究。
　　商業機構盡社會責任
　　據了解，政府其中一個構想，是擴大社會企業範圍，當商業機構履行其社會責任，例如生產過程加強環保意識、推動公益、聘請弱勢社群等，若符合一系列推動社會良好意識及推動就業的原則，也可成為社會企業，獲得嘉許，但政府不會提供資助，這些機構亦不能分紅。至於政府現時透過「夥伴倡自強」、投資共享基金等資助社企成立的模式，則會繼續進行。
　　現時社會企業的定義，籠統地以非盈利團體經營一盤生意，以聘用及培訓弱勢社群為目標，任何收益及所賺利潤，均不會如企業般獲分發花紅，全部用於社會企業營運上。
　　社區組織協會主任何喜華指出，社會企業不能解決目前在職貧窮問題，紓緩程度有限，政府曾鼓勵部門的小型採購合約可「幫襯」社會企業，至今未見曙光，社企亦面對鋪租昂貴致營運成本上升，政府現無政策協助紓緩。他期望港大協助釐清目前社福機構角色及社會企業目標。他建議政府效法外國為社企設註冊制度，讓社企獲優惠及豁免稅項等。
　　社聯：最大困難是貴租
　　社聯業務總監蔡海偉指，社聯轄下有超過二百間會員機構營辦社會企業，現無一個清晰、嚴格定義，主要靠申領政府短期資助啟動，現階段仍在摸索，大部分由社福機構協辦，商界企業營辦例子未見。
　　蔡海偉指，租金昂貴是社會企業面對的最大困難，因缺乏門市銷售點，多以屋商場短期租約、流動攤位形式經營。他希望，社會企業立下定義後，可給社企彈性發展空間，更希望政府牽頭推動多個部門、公營機構等，如房委會、醫管局 等以平價出租鋪位給真正的社會企業，協助社企持續下去。
　　記者：張一華

Boost for social enterprise aims

英文虎報 2007-02-02

District-based social enterprise geared toward fighting poverty is to be given a lift if Donald Tsang is re-elected chief executive.

Tsang's election platform also aims to revitalize the social welfare sector, with an emphasis on reviewing the sector's planning and long-term development strategy.

Under an action plan, entitled ``Building a New Hong Kong: Creating Quality Life Together,'' Tsang vowed to lead the ``Social Enterprise Summit on Fighting Poverty,'' which will outline an agenda for district-based social enterprises which will create more employment opportunities.
Private enterprises will be mobilized to provide voluntary legal, accounting and management skills training to assist in the operation of social enterprises in several districts, such as Tin Shui Wai, Wong Tai Sin and Sham Shui Po, where the unemployment rate is set to surge to 7 percent.
The government could also collaborate with businesses to help the unemployed find work and enhance social harmony by injecting new energy into social enterprises, Tsang said.

The chief executive reiterated that he will review the wage protection movement should the results of the scheme be unsatisfactory, and he is also prepared to introduce legislation on a minimum wage.

A social enterprise is defined as a profit-making entity that, besides providing goods and services, undertakes a social mission, such as helping dole recipients to be less reliant on the government, and boosting employment for the disabled.

Tsang said Britain's FRC Group - one of the best known social business groups in the country - is a good learning example for Hong Kong.

Legislator Frederick Fung Kin-kee of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood welcomed the main goal of social enterprises, saying they provide a vital means of solving unemployment at the district level. But he warned they were not the ultimate solution for the widening poverty gap.

He suggested the next government provide low-interest loans for social enterprises to come up with an adequate amount of capital and cash flow.

Tax and rental discounts for operators at the government's vacant wet markets could also help these enterprises survive, he said.

Fung further suggested the next government outsource 10 percent of its contracts to social enterprises for a limited period to give them an initial boost.

Tsang also pledged to review social welfare planning, enhance the long-term welfare development strategy and improve services to the disabled, single- parent families and the elderly.

He would also offer more resources to establish a Children's Development Fund to support children from low- income families.
The chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Christine Fang Meng-sang, who is also a member of the government's Social Welfare Advisory Committee, said that since the handover, the social welfare sector has been missing out on a long- term development plan, which has given rise to many problems.

``I hope his action plan can be more comprehensive, taking into consideration Hong Kong's rapidly aging population. Areas like long-term care needs, health-care financing and income protection for the elderly should be looked into as a whole package,'' she said.

Helping the poor to help themselves

南華早報 SCMP 2007-03-25

For nearly 15 years, Danny Leung Hong-hei had plied his trade as a repairman across the housing estates of Kowloon. But, as the 20th century drew to a close and Hong Kong's construction boom turned to bust, sam hong work dried up completely.

Unemployed construction workers flooded the job market and Mr Leung was forced on to a benefit to support his wife and two young children. For five years, the family struggled to survive in their Shek Kip Mei apartment on HK$4,000 a month plus rent allowance.

I tried to find a job by asking friends to refer me, from previous employers, from newspapers and the labour exchange, he said. But it was very difficult and I had little chance of getting work. I had to do anything I could to earn a living and I tried to sell second-hand VCDs as a hawker in Ap Lui Street. I tried to buy them cheaply from one store and resell them for a small profit.
But the hawking didn't really come to much and, as the family fell deeper into poverty, Mr Leung resorted to borrowing cash from money lenders at a high rate of interest. Today, he is still struggling to pay off his debts but at least has regular full-time work with Sam Hong Workers' Mutual Aid Engineering company.

The firm is one of more than 180 social enterprises that have sprung up over recent years as Hong Kong turns to new business initiatives in an effort to beat unemployment and tackle pressing social needs. They are turning out products ranging from wheelchairs to eco-friendly soap and providing community-oriented services such as home-help for the elderly, recycling, school tuck shops and pest-control.

The Commission on Poverty, led by Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, is promoting social enterprises as a key plank of its drive to alleviate poverty and develop people's self-reliance.

The catch-all term - borrowed from Britain - covers a variety of organisational models, including co-operatives, welfare companies and charitable trusts, that provide jobs for unemployed people.

For a business to qualify as a social enterprise, it must have objectives that are primarily social and its surpluses have to be mainly reinvested either in the business or in the community, rather than siphoned off as profits for shareholders and owners.

It is an idea whose time appears to have come. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has pledged in his re-election platform to personally take charge of support for social enterprises in districts where unemployment rates are at least 2 percentage points above average.

But getting a social enterprise off the ground can be a really difficult task, as non-governmental organisations - and even political parties - that have pioneered the new type of business organisation in Hong Kong can testify.

The sam hong company that is helping Mr Leung to get back on his feet was launched by the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) after the Social Welfare Department commissioned the party to set up a training programme for repairmen.

Association legislator Frederick Fung Kin-kee said that about half the repairmen who went through the programme gained building work qualifications but most still could not find a job. So the party had decided to step in and help create the work opportunities they needed. It set up the company in 2002 and used its political network to tout for business for the repairmen.
A team of unemployed repairmen was taken on and they quickly built up quite a good client network in Sham Shui Po but by the second year the turnover was only HK$500,000.

At the beginning the results were not very good, said Mr Fung. There were some traditional problems that we were facing. In the sam hong tradition in Hong Kong, you only get the money three months after you complete the job. This is all very well if you are a big company with lots of money - but we didn't have the money. And it is not only the salaries. You have to buy the materials and cover the running costs of the office.

We asked the government and we asked some corporate bodies for help but no one responded. So at the very beginning, we just borrowed the money - about HK$300,000 - from the ADPL.
A high-profile launch had been arranged for the company and afterwards there was a rush of orders for repair work - but they were all small jobs commissioned by party members, friends and associates.

The problem was that we only had one manager to check the projects - the price of the materials and so forth - and there were too many orders for one manager to deal with, said Mr Fung. It was a terrible situation because, even though we had the orders coming in and we had the workers available, we had to turn some of the work down. If the party had not been there to help, we would not have made it.

In the private sector we face competition from some of the most successful companies and successful workers. And the public sector is a key potential market for social enterprises. But we can't work for the government because of the restrictions.

Mr Fung said that to get on to the housing department's bidding list, building companies had to put down a HK$1.5 million deposit, have at least five years' experience and have done business worth more than HK$10 million.

From the second year, the company began bidding for larger contracts that would bring more cash for less administration and it has now got on to the bidding lists of the Hong Kong Housing Society, Goodwell Property Management and the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. As a result, annual turnover is up to HK$1.5 million.

NGO Stewards Ltd runs 17 social enterprises that have a combined turnover of HK$12 million and employ 83 people with disabilities and more than 70 others. They include a mushroom farm, school tuck shops, a hospital convenience store, a landscape gardening business and a pot plant nursery.

Social service executive secretary Philip Chan Shiu-kan said it had tried to launch more than 20 businesses, but some had been overwhelmed by start-up problems. Projects had to be devised correctly so they met a real need, covered their costs and did not conflict with existing social enterprise and small businesses in the area. This required a high level of professional and managerial skill. The sam hong company is now set on bold plans to double its workforce and treble turnover within three years after winning HK$103 million last year through the Enhancing Self Reliance through District Partnerships programme, which provides start-up grants for projects that alleviate poverty and help disadvantaged communities.

The programme is one of several initiatives that the government has launched to support social enterprises. A total of HK$150 million is being pumped over the next five years into its sister project Enhancing Employment of People with Disabilities through Small Enterprise.
The Commission on Poverty, which came up with the programmes, has also helped NGO umbrella organisation the Hong Kong Council for Social Service and several universities to jointly set up a training programme for social enterprise managers that is due to start in May.
And it is working with the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Mentorship Association to develop a programme that will assign a volunteer business adviser to every social enterprise.
Changes to public procurement rules and the regulatory framework for social enterprises are also under way. In April last year, government departments got the go-ahead to give special consideration in open tenders to businesses employing disabled people or bring in restrictive tenders for such firms.

And a trial is now under way for a bidding process for government contracts that will take account of the number of people who have been retrained by the Employees Retraining Board that the tendering companies employ.

Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, chair professor of finance at City University and poverty commision member, said: This package of measures will provide the necessary support to enable more social enterprises to be successfully set up in Hong Kong.

These special initiatives will provide a good opportunity for those who have been jobless for a long time to get back on their feet and go back into the job market.

But social enterprise chiefs say tax incentives and interest-free loans are also needed to convert Mr Tsang's election promise into reality.

Earlier this month, leaders of more than 40 social enterprises attended the first of a series of consultative meetings being held by the social service council in the lead up to a government summit on the issue.

Christine Fang Meng-sang, chief executive of the social service council, said it supported the measures suggested at the meeting by representatives of enterprises including MentalCare Connect, Bright Service Company and Rehabilitation Alliance.

It takes tax incentives or recognition to encourage businesses to contract out services to social enterprises, work in partnership with them or even invest in them, she said.

The government could encourage the business sector by giving tax incentives to businesses that offer contracts or give rent discounts to the social enterprises.

It currently offers interest-free loans to small and medium-sized enterprises and they should also offer these loans to social enterprises. If the government really wants to make it work, these are some of the things that they could consider.

Assurance on poverty fight as chief talks business

南華早報 2007-06-02

Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen believes the next administration will put its efforts into alleviating poverty despite the dissolution of the Poverty Commission.

Mr Tang, who heads the commission, was speaking yesterday as the chief executive rallied support for the development of social enterprises - an approach to poverty alleviation he put forward in his re-election campaign.

The commission was set up by the administration under Tung Chee-hwa just over two years ago as pressure mounted for his government to do more to help the poor.

Wrapping up the last meeting of the commission, Mr Tang would not yield to a request for the creation of a high-level body to take forward initiatives to address poverty. The move was proposed by Democratic Party vice-chairman Tik Chi-yuen, who said more than half the commission's 24 members backed him.

Mr Tang said: "Many members considered that, as the commission had made a good start on poverty alleviation, such work should be continued. I have expressed to them Mr Tsang's emphasis on the work and I believe [Hong Kong's] third post-handover government will continue with the task."

At a symposium on social enterprises, the chief executive described them as a key initiative for tackling poverty.

Mr Tsang said a social enterprise was a business with primarily social objectives, most of whose profits were reinvested in the business or invested in the community in pursuance of those objectives. It was not driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.

Such enterprises were a way to create jobs for people who found it hard to get work with other employers and to help the disadvantaged re-enter the job market, he said.

Co-operation between the community, the business sector and government was crucial to promoting their development, he said.

Hong Kong had about 200 social enterprises, which needed more support from the business sector, Mr Tsang said.

"Aside from financial support, it is more important to help them enhance their competitiveness, like providing them with business instruction and training."

David Chiu, acting chief operations officer of the Salvation Army, which has been running social enterprises in Hong Kong since the 1960s, said high rents remained a problem.
"We are calling for property owners who have a strong sense of social responsibility to lease their places to us at lower rents," he said.

Social enterprises offer chance to beat poverty

南華早報 2007-06-02

The Commission on Poverty held its last meeting yesterday and, as of the end of the month, the body will be no more. The government has insisted that the dissolution of the commission will in no way mean that it is keeping less of an eye on the least advantaged in society. It remains to be seen whether it will live up to its pledge.

So far, it is heartening that officials have said the right things. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen made poverty reduction a key plank of his election platform, in which he said "the widening wealth gap is a critical social problem in Hong Kong". He listed poverty, along with the environment and education, as issues high on his agenda, and promised to take charge of promoting initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty, such as setting up social enterprises in communities with high concentrations of low-income families to create employment opportunities.

His raising of the latter issue at a forum yesterday would seem to indicate that he means business. Given the scale of the problem, however, he has much work to do.

Hong Kong's ever-evolving work environment and ageing population means that some people are losing their jobs and lack the skills to find new ones. The situation has always been problematic for the disabled or those leaving school with poor marks. As there is no minimum wage, rising living costs can add to the stress.

A series of schemes has been set up by the government, but those formulated by the commission aimed at encouraging companies and non-governmental groups to establish social enterprises are where most impetus is being placed.

Many would argue that any business that does not put profit ahead of everything else is doomed to fail. To them, the notion that a socially responsible business goes out of its way to employ workers suffering from various disabilities or a lack of skills is simply preposterous. However, with the success of such ventures elsewhere, including Britain, there is good reason for optimism.

In Hong Kong, there are about 200 such enterprises, training and employing thousands of people in ventures including repair work, mushroom farming, landscape gardening, school canteens and convenience stores. Many are manned by a mix of disabled and able-bodied workers, who are all paid market rates for their labour. Though their margins are relatively low, what is important is that they are profitable and their workers do not have to depend on government handouts.

Admittedly, not every social enterprise succeeds. Non-governmental organisations may have the heart to help the weak and the poor, but they lack the business acumen to ensure the ventures' survival. This is where successful businessmen could chip in to make a contribution. Social enterprises that can tap their expertise are more likely to fly.

Until now, the focus of poverty relief efforts has been on providing welfare to the needy. While such assistance must continue, a far better way of helping the poor is to create suitable employment opportunities.

With our ever-widening wealth gap, the social welfare challenges of an ageing society and an increasingly competitive business environment, Hong Kong has a considerable task ahead in its fight against poverty and unemployment. Apart from attracting more companies and encouraging new ventures, social enterprises offer a viable solution.