A learning disability trust is poised to chart new territory by becoming a social enterprise. Daniel Allen listens to supporters and detractors of the controversial move, which could jeopardise nurses’ pension and employment rights

What connects Chesterfield Foot-ball Supporters’ Society, Bulky Bob’s waste collection service in Liverpool and the Shetland Soap Company? The answer is that they are all social enterprises, and they may soon be joined by an NHS learning disability trust, which is planning to shed its current organisational shape and adopt a new form.