cooperative – The Community Planning Toolkit

The modern local council originated in the industrial cities of England in early Victorian times when citizens campaigned for democratic bodies to do the things together that people could not do effectively as households or communities. In more recent times, councils have been seeking to deliver services with communities rather than to them. In the process, they are rediscovering their cooperative heritage...

In more detail

Modern local government in England dates back to 1835. The Municipal Corporations Act of that year enabled citizens to set up their own borough council in order to do things collectively that could not effectively be done as individuals. This included things like: setting up a police force; providing water supplies and street cleaning; drainage and sewerage. Corporations had to produce public accounts to show how taxes had been spent. These 'corporations' as the early councils were called, were the legal embodiments of the communities they served. Although voting was restricted, it was widened during the century (women gained the vote in municipal elections in 1869). Manchester and Birmingham were the first places where citizens petitioned for a local council, but they were joined by cities and boroughs - particularly in the industrial Midlands and North.

During the 20th century, Parliament gave councils further powers and responsibilities. This trend had reversed by the end of the 20th century (public transport, water supplies and higher education colleges were, for example, removed from council control) but by the beginning of the 21st century, councils had commonly come to be seen as the (rather 'faceless') local agencies of central government. More recently, however, a series of laws have given councils more leeway to act entrepreneurially and more independently of central government, but cooperatively with local communities and business. This includes:

the Local Government Act 2000 gave councils the purpose of sustainable development (ie to do anything that improves local economic, social and environmental wellbeing)
the Local Government Act 2002 enabled councils to borrow more easily to fund investment in local wellbeing
the Local Government Act 2003 enabled Business Improvement Districts
the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 enabled local people to establish parish councils in more urban areas
the Localism Act 2011 confirmed that councils have a power of general competence (they can do anything which could be legally done by an individual).

The video below is by Lambeth Council. It presents how the council aims to work cooperatively with local people to find local approaches and solutions that work: 'doing with communities, rather than to neighbourhoods'.

Not all councils call themselves 'cooperative councils'. All local councils are, however, looking for ways to achieve more by working collaboratively with communities. You might not always be able to get your council to back what you want to do to improve the neighbourhood. But it is worth looking at the powers the council has - and that your councillors exercise on your behalf - to see whether there are ways of working cooperatively. Some of these powers are listed in the links below.

Key Facts:

Modern local councils were set up because citizens campaigned for them. Councils helped businesses and communities to make cities thrive by enabling them to act together, to do things they could not do effectively individually. During the last century, Parliament gave councils a lot of services to run. By the end of the century, councils tended to be seen as rather faceless, bureaucratic organisations that did what government told them, rather than acting on behalf of local communities and business. A series of legal changes have, however, strengthened the independence of local councils and encouraged them to collaborate with communities and business to improve services. Not all councils call themselves 'cooperative councils', but all councils are interested in helping communities and local businesses to make better places to live and work.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit, see:

Local Democracy

Sustainable Development

HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation)

Licensing

Noise and Nuisance

Neighbourhood Management

Local Planning System

Devolution

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-07-26 15:00:08

by: admin

status: f published

If you are working together to improve the neighbourhood, then you might want to think about forming a neighbourhood co-op...

In more detail

Co-operatives are democratically controlled associations which belong to the people set them up and are based on self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. Their shared ethical values – derived from those of the 19^th century Rochdale Pioneers - are honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others. More than 17 million people in the UK are part of a co-operative and, in total, co-ops contribute more than £34bn to the economy every year. The video above from Co-ops UK explains what a co-operative is.

Abroad, in France, the top 3 cooperative banks have roughly the same level of revenue as HSBC, Lloyds and Barclays combined. The world’s largest industrial co-operative in Mondragon, in Spain, employs 75,000 workers – which is more than, for example, Google or Apple. Spanish football clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, are co-operatives.

In England, household names like the Co-op (of course), Nationwide Building Society and John Lewis are cooperatives. There are more than 200, mostly small-scale, housing cooperatives which provide affordable homes for their members. There are also food cooperatives, energy cooperatives, car-sharing clubs and social care cooperatives providing vital services on which their members depend. And an increasing number of neighbourhood timebanks and tool shares which work on cooperative principles.

Why Consider a Co-op?

A cooperative could be an appropriate form for an organisation which is set up to benefit and improve a neighbourhood because it:

is democratic and can only ever belong to its members
has open membership within its area - new members can join after it has been set up
can employ staff, undertake contracts and deliver services if necessary and/or can be used as a campaigning and educational body
works to benefit its members and the wider community as a whole
surpluses can only either be re-invested in the work of the co-op, or shared between its members
is built on the same values that underpin neighbourliness.

Becoming a co-operative, creates links to the wider co-operative movement, to potential collaboration and sources of support.

Membership is Ownership

In co-ops, membership is ownership. The one-member-one-vote rule applies in small organisations, social enterprises and community groups as well as in the big businesses like those above which work co-operatively.

What determines whether an organisation is a co-op are the values, principles and ways of working that it follows, rather than a given organisational structure. Co-ops can be constituted in a wide range of legal forms including as: Industrial and Provident Societies, non-profit companies and charitable incorporated organisations.

The video below is of Ed Mayo of Cooperatives UK talking about why he thinks the cooperative model is a better model for business:

Key Facts:

Co-ops are democratically owned and managed associations of people who share a common interest. They range from multi-million pound businesses to small, neighbourhood bodies. Regardless of their legal form, they share the principle of one member, one vote and a set of values and ways of working which distinguish co-ops from other businesses. For groups working together to improve the locality, it is worth thinking about setting up a neighbourhood co-op.

Page Links from here

Cooperatives UK is the networking body for co-ops which helps new and existing bodies working on cooperative lines. Examples of different sorts of neighbourhood group that are set up as cooperatives include:

London Community Neighbourhood Co-operative

Abram Ward Community Co-operative in Wigan

Headingley Development Trust in Leeds

Heart of Hasting Community Land Trust

Uplands Allotments Community Association in Birmingham

Preston Community Gateway

The Eldonians in Liverpool

On this website, see

Social Enterprise

Social Value

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-07-15 14:23:01