Other Business Forms

This lesson moves beyond sole traders, partnerships, and limited companies to examine other important business forms: public-sector organisations, not-for-profit organisations, social enterprises, and mutual organisations. AQA expects you to understand how these forms differ in their objectives, ownership, and control. This is part of topic 3.1.2.

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Public Sector Organisations

Key Definition: The public sector consists of organisations that are owned and controlled by the government (central or local) and funded primarily through taxation. Their objective is to provide services to the public rather than to make a profit.

Features of Public Sector Organisations

Feature	Detail
Ownership	Owned by the government on behalf of citizens
Funding	Funded through taxation, government grants, and sometimes user charges
Objective	To provide services for the public good — not to maximise profit
Accountability	Accountable to the public through elected politicians and government bodies
Examples	The NHS, state schools, the BBC (partly), the police, the armed forces, local councils

Nationalisation and Privatisation