The Chancellor of the Exchequer has today set out Labour’s first budget since entering office following the General Election victory – and we’ve already seen action on our key priorities going into this Parliament.

The Co-operative Party have welcomed the commitment to support co-operative growth across the country through the upcoming Small Business Strategy. This will outline the Labour Government’s vision to support small business and grow the co-operative economy by making it easier to access finance, expand into domestic and international markets, and build business capabilities and innovation. The new Small Business Strategy, which will sit alongside the Industrial Strategy, will support start-up co-ops and other forms of business, as well as existing small businesses looking to grow their operations, export and diversify. The Budget also announced new reforms which will support and incentivise genuine employee ownership across the economy. The new measures announced will reinforce employee engagement and participation.

Another key moment of the speech was the announcement of the £125 million capitalisation of Great British Energy, including £100m specifically for the development of new clean energy projects. This will enable the delivery of new projects including those delivered through the Local Power Plan, which represents the largest expansion of community energy in British history and has long been championed by the Co-operative Party. This capital investment in new clean energy projects could facilitate new opportunities for community energy groups across the country to expand projects in solar, wind and hydro power.

There were also two other key wins for Co-operative campaigns in the budget on the vital topics of high street safety and household support. On high streets, the Chancellor used her speech to call out the rampant retail crime harming our communities, workers, consumers and businesses. The Chancellor announced funding for further action on retail crime and new training provision available to police authorities and retailers, specifically focused on reducing retail crime incidents by targeting criminal gangs. On household support, the vital campaigning by Co-operative Councillors on the continuation of the Household Support Fund has resulted in another extension of the fund, which helps families experiencing hardship due to the high cost of living. The Household Support Fund will receive £1bn through the new Budget, which will help support vulnerable families to make ends meet through to 2026.

The Chancellor’s new Budget has seen important first steps taken on Co-operative Party priorities like stimulating co-operative growth, unlocking the development of community energy and tackling retail crime. We will continue to work to further advance these priorities in the months ahead, working with the Government and our representatives across the country to help lay the foundations for co-operative change.