What is a co-operative council?

The idea that local authorities might become ‘co-operative councils’ has emerged over recent years. From Oldham to Edinburgh, Newcastle to Rochdale, it is great to see the interest in and commitment to co-operative working.

There is an overlap between public ethos and co-operative values, not least around open and democratic models of organisation.

But the challenge is that it is not an entirely easy fit. Co-operatives are an established form, underpinned of course by an international definition and agreement. We are enterprises. Co-operatives can be many things, but not, without very significant stretch, can they be a local authority.

What matters then perhaps is not form but action. If a council is genuinely pro- co-operative, then the results ought over time to be clear. So it is welcome that a community of co-operative councils has started, slowly, to coalesce, kickstarted by the Co-operative Party, and last month, published a collection of policy contributions on the potential of the idea. The sections on education and housing, in particular, are strong because they talk to practical action, already happening.

It has taken time, not unreasonably, for this agenda to take shape. In 2010, under the aegis of the Local Government Association Labour Group, around one hundred councils expressed interest in the idea of becoming a co‑operative council. A document, titled Co-operative Communities – Creating a shared stake in our society for everyone was published that same year. There is more focus now in terms of numbers, with twenty one councils signed up – still with the same political affiliation – but also more visible ambition.

Co-operatives UK is the recognised voice of the movement, so we have a natural concern to protect the integrity of co-operative action. So what would we say made for a co-operative council? I think it has to have more bite, to ensure genuine action rather than just rhetorical political positioning, with the following steps as a draft, outline set of criteria:

• the authority endorses the internationally recognised co-operative and ethical values as a basis for work that it takes forward as a co-operative council
• there is a Cabinet Member for co-operatives
• plans for local economic development, such as for jobs, investment and housing, include an explicit component focused on the development of co-operative enterprise, including credit unions
• there is an explicit recognition in commissioning of the added value that can come from co-operative and mutual enterprises
• commissioning staff have received training in co-operative models
• they are open to the potential of services that are being spun out services where appropriate being run on high quality co-operative models
• services that are spun out of direct provision encourage a co-operative or mutual form and protect assets through common ownership or a wider asset lock where they have been developed with taxpayer money
• it operates as a Fairtrade Town, recognising the value of this as a form of support for producer co-operatives overseas
• they encourage schools, where the national context allows this, to convert to co-operative schools, following the options now available for this
• they encourage agencies that act as partners locally, such as further education colleges and social housing, to consider co-operative and mutual models of governance
• they have given consideration / had a debate on sourcing utility services, including banking, energy and telephony from co-operative providers
• the authority operates as an employer with an appropriate partnership and form of consultation with trades unions.

There is no roadmap for this and these are suggestions only. But there does need to be a dialogue with the co-operative movement on this, to encourage action and to ensure that the co-operative identity as set out by the International Co-operative Alliance – of which Co-operatives UK is the domestic guardian – maintains its historic, hard-won integrity.

Come in, be co-operative – and act co-operative.

Terry Leahy versus the world

Why did the UK fall out of love with Tesco? It is good to be reminded.

On desert island disks today, Terry Leahy, ex Tesco Chief, argued that the closure of local shops across the UK represents progress.

In 1984, Tesco announced that it could not see itself opening a shop in the high street “ever again”. It got it wrong on convenience stores, even if right on other things, so I wouldn’t bet against the colour, life and resilience of independent, local stores on Terry Leahy’s say-so.

We have anyway been doing some work on the re-spending from locally-owned stores in the local economy, based on a case study of the Lincolnshire Co-operative Society. For release later this month. One finding I take out of it? For all their retail success, the quickest way to kill a local economy, high street and all, can be to bring in a chain like…. Tesco.

Who do you want to work for?

It is nice to see that 4 of the top 25 companies listed in the Top Companies For Graduates To Work For in 2012/13 list are co-operative and mutual employers.

This is four times greater nominal market share then co-operatives and mutual have in the overall UK economy.

There is an interesting argument developed by Campbell Macpherson in Money Marketing that graduates are increasingly seeing through the greenwash and fake corporate values.

I am not saying that as co-ops, we get it right every time, but there’s something important in all this.

It clearly matters to people that you can work for a business that you can believe in.

The ten lessons of the International Year of Co-operatives

2012 was a year of teamwork, sport and a renewed confidence that the country can pull together. It is perhaps appropriate then that the year was also designated by the United Nations, for the first time, as the International Year of Co-operatives.

It is, now we have finished, a fascinating case study, somewhat removed from run of the mill topic of business marketing. After all, when the United Nations names a year in your honour, what impact does that have?

1. Politicians listen. In launching the International Year, the UN asked every country to review and improve its legislative framework for co-operative enterprise. On just the 19^th January 2012, the UK became the first country worldwide to do this as the Prime Minister promised to bring forward a new co-operatives act before 2015. The last time there was a co-operative consolidation act in the 1960s, soon after, as it happens, the launch by the Beatles of “Love me do” their first single in the Co-op Hall in Nuneaton.

2. It is not what happens in Manchester that matters. Over the course of the year, around three hundred co-operative enterprises took part in organizing local events or running promotions under the theme of the United Nations International Year, with common branding used by coops right across the world.

3. Coops are not the goal. They are the means to achieve our goals. In March, a grassroots campaign, emerging out of the UK Uncut campaign, was launched to encourage people to ‘move your money’ from the shareholder banks to the Co-operative Bank or to co-operative credit unions, on the rise across the country. Change the world? Go co-operative.

4. We are going to have such an amazing time with new technology. Co-operate, an iPhone and Android app, is out, for example, letting you find co-operatives close to you, whether one of the four hundred co-operative schools, a housing co-operative or a branch of Nationwide, the UK’s leading building society.

5. Employee ownership works. In the period of Co-operatives Fortnight, the Deputy Prime Minister organised an Employee Ownership Summit, along with the launch of an independent review on how to spread employee owned and worker co-operatives

6. We have alcohol on our side. In July, we sponsored a Financial Times supplement on co-operative and mutual business. Among the example profiled by the Financial Times was the Wine Society. They have been voted National Wine Merchant of the Year at the Decanter World Wine Awards for two consecutive years. As Sarah Evans, Chair of the Wine Society, says “co-operatives make lovely wines.”

7. Nothing counts if you are not successful businesses. The Co-operative Economy, our review of the economic performance of the sector confirmed the commercial success and resilience of the co-operative model. For the last five years, since the credit crunch, the co-operative sector has outperformed the UK economy. Across the UK, co-operative turnover is now £35.6 billion. Since 2008 the number of co-operatives has grown by 23% and there are 13.5 million member owners of co-operatives in the UK.

8. We are bigger than we thought. Or we think. Research I led on global business ownership was re-published by Worldwatch Institute early in the year, revealing that globally there are three times as many member owners of co-operatives as there are direct shareholders. In the fast growing ‘BRIC’ countries of Brazil, Russia, China and India, co-operative sector growth is even more extensive. As a sector worldwide, the International Co-operative Alliance estimates that co-operatives employ 100 million people – more in fact than all the transnational corporations put together.

9. We are more visible than we think. Co-ops are also behind some of the most recognised brands. In recent years, blackcurrent growers in the UK for example formed a co-operative to supply the berries going into Ribena. Working together not only gave them more of a say it gave them a better deal and, in supply terms, it also worked well for Ribena. Similarly, the aptly-named Green Pea Company is a co-operative of UK farmers that provide the produce for Birdseye.

10. What happens in Manchester can matter. At the end of the year, along with the outstanding team at the Co-operative Group and the International Co-operative Alliance, we hosted an International EXPO for co-operative business worldwide. 11,000 people visited the ‘Co-operatives United’ event in Manchester in early November, which showcased the co-operative model not just in the UK but overseas.

The International Year of Co-operatives has been a unique business event. A short video on activities over the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives is on http://www.uk.coop/2012/celebrate2012 The commercial world should be proud of co-operative enterprises – and to regain its own pride, going co-operative is still an option.

Thank you everyone who followed and who contributed to this special year.

These are the ten lessons I have learned. Do add yours!

No fantasy

The new film out today is Chasing Ice, which premiered in fitting style at the Ritzy Brixton in conjunction with The Cooperative – a night which was topped off with the news that the film has been short-listed for the Best Documentary category at the Academy Awards.

It is not the Hobbit, but even so, since then, the makers say that the buzz has grown. A video on The Guardian showing the largest iceberg break-up ever filmed has received over half a million hits since it was posted two days ago. The Telegraph ran a cover story on the film last weekend, and Time Out has awarded the film 4 stars.

No fantasy, I suspect, but a warning of a planet moving to more horror scenes.

Twelve has been our favourite number

Co-operatives, their members and their supporters around the world marked the start of 2012, the International Year of Co-operatives, on 12 January. From Chelmsford to China, co-operatives came together to highlight the start of an incredible year.

Twelve months on, what a momentous year it has been. Across the globe co-operatives have celebrated what makes their businesses different. We’ve seen everything from flash mobs to formal conferences. Here in the UK, we’ve seen hundreds of activities, events and promotions by co-operatives up and down the country.

Wherever you are, whatever you did, I would like to thank you for your support, activity or good wishes during the International Year of Co-operatives.

Take the time if you can to mark the end of this wonderful year, by watching and sharing our new short film, Celebrating 2012, with your friends and colleagues.

Available online at http://www.uk.coop/celebrate2012 this 3 minute film showcases celebrations across the world this year.

Images of Manchester & Salford

These are some striking images of Manchester and Salford taken by my friend Richard, after a conversation with my mum about life here up the hills and in the cities.