Co-operatives and Local
Government
Community strengthening
and the role of local government ( February 2004) is
an important contribution to exploring options for local government.
The Introduction is
correct in noting that: “community strengthening involves stronger forms of
local connectedness and better linkages between government and other agencies
to mobilize local assets. This has come to be viewed as an important means to
address the twin priorities of prosperity and social inclusion.”
The discussion paper
proceeds to identify “a number of examples of the ways in which local
collaborations are working in other countries.”
Unfortunately, the paper
is incomplete in identifying the range of local collaborations and alternative
governance pathways. This is disappointing for it is noted that community
strengthening emphasis two related dimensions – building social capital of
local communities and pooling new forms of partnership or collaboration.
Given this incompleteness,
it is not surprising that the references are incomplete.
There is reference to
international experience of local government in
The discussion on the UK approach includes references to Area Based Initiatives, partnerships and collaborations but no reference to co-operative partnerships. In the UK the Co-op Party has established a Co-operative Councillors' Network that includes best practice files of developing co-operative initiatives through local government. A summary of the UK Co-operative Party's Co-operative Agenda for Local Government follows as prepared by the Co-operative Party.
Co-operative
Councillors' Network
Three potential pathways
are identified:
The Devolved Governance
pathway does refer to Community Development Corporations in the
In the USA the National Cooperative Business Association's Cooperative Business Development program develops new and helps existing cooperatives through our partnership with CooperationWorks!—a network of rural co-op development centers—and our Urban Cooperative Development Initiative. This program also helps NCBA members develop important relationships with other co-ops to enhance their business opportunities. Through our annual Cooperative Development Forum and our network of cooperative legal and business experts, we help co-ops solve their most pressing business, governance and membership challenges. NCBA also works closely with the Cooperative Development Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization that promotes self-help and mutual aid in community, economic, and social development through new cooperatives. For more information, contact Richard Dines, Director of Cooperative Business Development, at (202) 383-5442 or rdines@ncba.coop
Given this incompleteness,
it is not surprising that the references are incomplete. These critical
references, for example, are not included:
Co-operation &
Collaboration Melding Tradition With Innovation, The
Duffy Group, ND
Restakis, John The Emilian Model – Profile of a Co-operative Economy, ND
Restakis, John Social Co-ops and Social Care An Emerging Role for Civil Society, ND
Williams, Robert Bologna
and Emilia
Hargreaves, Ian Mills, Cliff and Michie,
Jonathan Ownership Matters – new mutual business models, Mutuo.co.uk, 2001
Hutton, Will The Stakeholding Society Writings
on Politics and Economics, Polity Press, 1999
Hutton, Will The State To Come, Vintage, 1997
Restakis, John and Lindquist, Evert
A The Co-op Alternative: Civil Society and the Future of Public Services,IPAC Monographs (
The Co-operative
Party(
Hargreaves, Ian New Mutualism In from the Cold – the
co-operative revival and social exclusion, 1999
Kellner, Peter New Mutualism: The
Rodgers, David New
Mutualism The Third Estate, 1999
The references do not even
include Robert D Putnam’s recent publication:
Putnam, Robert D Bowling
Alone – The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster,
2000
When a government issued
discussion paper is incomplete this distorts both the
options, the perceptions of respondents and their responses. This is a
disservice to public policy choices and decisions.
David Griffiths
A Co-operative Agenda for Local Government
The Co-operative Party recently published its third Agenda for Local Government, a political manifesto for our 700 Labour and Co-operative Councillors. Here Oliver Fry and Karen Wilkie summarise its key recommendations.
Co-operatives and mutuals have a role to play in almost every aspect of local government, including community regeneration and economic development, housing, leisure, social services and education. All have the same in common – they provide jobs and create wealth in local communities, and are controlled by the people they serve.
The Co-operative Party believes in the empowerment of individuals and communities through co-operative self-help initiatives, and, through its active network of local councillors, encourages local authorities to consider the many benefits that co-operatives and social enterprises can bring to the community.
Social Enterprises are often well placed to deliver good quality, cost-effective public services. They can demonstrate innovative new practices, increasing the participation of staff and users in service delivery. The Government believes there is significant potential for more public services to be delivered by social enterprises, and that local authorities in particular have an important role in opening up procurement processes. We also need to build know-how in procurement issues amongst social enterprises and their advisors.
Social Enterprise - a strategy for success DTI Publication, 2002
Economic Development
Employee owners tend to be more deeply committed to their local economic base than investor-owned companies and local ownership mean that profits are more likely to re-circulate in the local economy.
Mutually owned businesses can be seen as the ideal form of homegrown business. They not only generate wealth and employment. Their profits are retained in the community to the benefit of other local businesses or, often, used directly for the benefit of the community. Because they are more responsive to the whole needs of the community, they are also more likely to offer a sustainable alternative that takes account of the environment.
Job creation through the support of social enterprises is much cheaper than through inward investment. In Northern Ireland, for example, the full cost per job to public agencies has been estimated at £8,000 for social enterprises, compared with £50,000 to £60,000 through inward investment. Yet, until recently, the public sector has failed to promote the advantages of co-operatives and mutuals.
Local Authorities should:
Anti-Poverty Strategies
In many communities mutual enterprises – including agricultural co-operatives, community-owned shops, community bus services, credit unions and housing co-operatives - are filling the void left by retreating public and private sector bodies, and offer the best available solution to social exclusion and service access problems.
The key strand of any policy aimed at regenerating communities should be the development and promotion of practical self-help mutual solutions to problems facing local people.
Local authorities should:
Housing Stock Transfer
The Co-operative Party has a distinguished record in tenant participation in housing. Where councils need or wish to transfer their housing stock, we believe that the Community Housing Mutual model offers the best option for the tenants, council and local community.
The Community Housing Mutual for stock transfer, developed by Mutuo, was launched by the Welsh Assembly Government in May 2002. The model offers a real alternative to previous ownership models, enabling necessary funds to be accessed without loss of democratic control, and with real potential to promote social and economic development.
Part of the CHM’s purpose is to ensure that tenants (and also the wider community) are empowered through a system of one member one vote, so that they can become closely involved in the regeneration and development of their own communities. This is a constitutional obligation placed upon the board rather than, as has been the case hitherto, and optional extra. The rules are drafted to reflect this commitment.
Local Authorities should:
Leisure services
Co-operatives and mutuals are ideally placed
to provide best value. Councils that have transferred their leisure direct
services organisations to co-operatives have found that services that were
financial liabilities threatened with cuts to provision have become revenue
earners, improving and expanding provision.
Local Authorities should:
Planning and the Environment
We are in favour of planning
policies that place accessible services in communities. Often this means concentrating
on town-centre development and the provision of services within residential
estates. To preserve and protect our environment we must protect local communities
from the devastating effect of unregulated development.
Local authorities should:
Pre-school Childcare
The Co-operative Party believes that
community based social enterprises offer the best hope of addressing the chronic
shortage of childcare in the UK. The development of new stakeholder models
may hold the key to affordable, quality childcare to both poor and prosperous
communities.
The Community Mutual model developed by Mutuo represents the ideal legal structure for such enterprises. As an Industrial and Provident Society with charitable status, it offers a real alternative to the traditional company structure in that membership is open to parents and workers, as well as other organisations representing the wider community. By creating a voice for these key stakeholders at Board level the Community Mutual is best placed to enable individuals to have a say in the childcare services they depend on.
The Community Mutual legal structure can be applied to new childcare social enterprises by local authorities, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships and other bodies. This is a valuable additional option for Labour and Co-operative councillors to promote within local authorities, and will deliver clear benefits in this vital service.
Local Authorities should:
Conclusion
Co-operation goes beyond simply working together. It is about democracy, about enabling ordinary people to become involved in the organisations around them, and to participate in decisions about the future of the community. Local Government has a key role to play in promoting co-operative solutions to many of the problems that still persist after the Tory years of fragmentation and privatisation, and Labour and Co-operative Councillors are in the front line in our campaign to build a strong, entrepreneurial alternative to outmoded, top-down approaches to service provision.
Where possible, they should lobby strongly for the adoption of the above measures, advise the consideration of co-operative models for all services that come under review, and recommend the appointment of a Co-operative Development Officer to promote and co-ordinate co-operative initiatives across their local authority.
A new campaign - promoting mutuality to local authorities
Following the publication of the Co-operative Agenda for Local Government, throughout 2003 the Party will be orchestrating a grassroots campaign designed to encourage local authorities to facilitate the mutual delivery of public services.
This idea behind campaign is to encourage members to lobby local authorities to encourage them to promote the mutual ownership of facilities, for example when considering externalising services.
We will be focusing first on leisure, before moving on to housing and childcare later in the year. During April and May, head office will design, and regional offices will distribute, campaign materials and organise political education events to enable Party members and councillors to campaign effectively.
These will include:
- Pre-prepared postcards (pre-addressed to relevant local authority department)
- Policy briefings in Q&A form, with examples of best practice
- Media releases for local papers
- Model resolutions to Labour local government committees (Labour and Co-operative councillors)
National Organisers will work in partnership with Head Office to organise campaign launch events in their respective areas, to which practitioners from the leisure industry will be invited. These events will double up as general political education events for Labour & Co-operative Councillors.
Copies of the Co-operative Agenda f or Local Government are available from 77 Weston Street or e.Harrison@co-op-party.org.uk