Regional Organiser (North West & Northern Ireland) and Local Government Support
Blog

With our planned Co-op Party Local Government Conference scheduled for June postponed due to the calling of the General Election, we could have been forgiven for giving it a miss altogether this year.

But with so much co-operation going on in local government and the inextricable links this work has in delivering the new Labour and Co-operative Government’s priorities, manifesto and Kings Speech, we just couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

Less than four weeks after the General Election we were delighted to welcome our Party Chair and new Minister of State for English Devolution and Local Government at Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Jim McMahon MP to join our Local Government Forum to talk to our members, councillors and friends about the work so far, and how our four key priorities are progressing: community energy, local ownership, co-op growth and safer high streets.

During an hour with Jim, we heard about the devolution bill, doubling the size of the co-operative sector, the government’s commitment to Community Right to Buy – “we absolutely will deliver”, pushing power down not just to local authorities but to local communities, and a relationship of equals across the layers of government.

In the second hour, we hosted a star-studded lineup of co-operators from across the regions, nations and levels of government, including:

Following his very recent appointment, Mete Coban outlined some of the work he has done in his previous role at Hackney with community energy, as he looks forward to supporting the Mayor of London and developing a potential 1,000 sites or projects for community energy in the capital.

Up in Scotland, Joe announced details earlier this year South Lanarkshire’s fightback fund to support community assets as we now look forward to the introduction of the English Devolution Bill announced in the Kings Speech which will include a new community right to buy.

Shanika listed off a number of co-operative initiatives locally including the launch of a new community larder, local procurement through More for MK, Milton Keynes City Council’s Carbon Offset Fund and working with MK Community Energy on retrofitting.

Another hotbed of co-operation was shared with us from the very recently appointed leader of Camden Council, Cllr Richard Olszewski, who told us about co-operation between the council and local schools through Camden Learning, the £30m Community Wealth Fund and working with housing and food co-ops.

Cllr Jim Robbins took over as Leader of Swindon Council with a mission to build a Fairer, Better, Greener Swindon. Jim told us about the progress on the new Swindon Plan including community renewable energy, community wealth building and assets of community value. Notably, Jim was an early supporter of using the ACV route for Swindon Town FC’s football ground, which has since led to a co-operative agreement between the council, supporters trust and the club itself to protect the long term future of the ground and club.

Whilst we also heard from Baroness Debbie Wilcox of Newport who is standing up for co-operation in the House of Lords alongside co-operative friends Lord Roy Kennedy of Southwark and Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage. Having been a leading figure in Wales local government, Baroness Wilcox gave attendees some background into the growth of Cwmpas, formerly the Wales Co-operative Centre as well as the drive in Wales to push ahead with a Welsh equivalent Marcora Law – giving workers the chance to fully or partially buy out the profitable or essential parts of a business in the event of its closure.

A packed evening stuffed with co-operation, enough to have filled a two-day conference! We left members and councillors with examples and inspiration to take away to their own local authorities to drive through with co-operation in their own patch.

Before rounding off the evening, Co-op Party Campaigns Officer Eva Murray launched our latest campaign for councillors around getting Community Right to Buy ready. We’re asking councillors to ensure their councils are promoting the ability to designate places and spaces that are important to a community as an “Asset of Community Value” (ACV), giving them protections from being sold off. Our councillors are already making it easier to apply to designate a space as an ACV and celebrating the success of ACVs in their communities. With a range of tools, templates and briefings made available, please click on to learn how you can get your council Community Right to Buy ready: Campaign Guide: Getting Councils Community Right to Buy Ready – Co-operative Party