Suddenly mutualism and cooperatives are everywhere. No sooner has Labour promised a ‘moment for mutualism’ than the Conservatives are pledging to train a volunteer army to set up community groups.
The mutual manifesto launched by Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell today promises to make it easier for people to take control of public services like health and social care, sure start centres and housing. The plan would see ‘new and improved opportunities for tenants to manage their own homes and housing services’ alongside a range of other reforms that will see public services managed by the community.
At the same time David Cameron was promising to create a neighbourhood army of 5,000 community organisers to ‘give communities the help they need to work together and tackle their problems’.
The Tories had already put localism at the heart of their green papers on planning and housing, which proposed fresh support for community land trusts.
Jowell’s mutual manifesto also cites approvingly the record of tenant management organisations, housing co-ops and community land trusts around the country and promises reforms including:
- a new fast-track route for tenants to take control of services like gardening and cleaning
- improved opportunities for communities to build and run homes on a co-operative basis, with easier access to HCA funding and public land.
Although the manifesto does not actually mention Lambeth, advance reports quoted approvingly the south London borough’s plans for a model of John Lewis-style services. If all goes to plan it is set to relaunch itself as Britain’s first co-operative council in August.
Lambeth leader Steve Reed sees the plan specifically in the context of the cuts facing local authorities after the election – and as a way of protecting public services against the no-frills approach adopted by Tory Barnet.
Back with the Conservatives, Cameron sees his plan to let charities and communities take control of services as part of a ‘big society’ approach to fixing ‘Broken Britain’.
It’s not at all clear how much real power either party will really give to tenants. The plans come after all just before an election and just before sweeping public spending cuts and neither of them has a great record on protecting or creating mutual building societies. But the opportunities are opening up.
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Readers' comments (1)
john harrington | 03/04/2010 1:06 pm
Co-operatives have been around for over 150 years. the problem is very few people including politicians seem to know much about them.
there are 5000 in the UK consumer, farmer, employee, housing etc
In the world more people work for Co-operatives than PLC's
The Co-operative model is VERY different from the PLC or state control model.
They are 100% democratically controlled by their owners, capital comes from the members, profits are returned in relationship to useage / purchases/ sales / wages.
The model can be used for ANY form of organisation. ( in turkey a housing co-op has 250.000 members, in some countries there are prostitues Co-ops)
The main problem is that many of the recent, so called Co-operative or mutual approaches are NOT Co-operatives they are cashing in on the name, whilst in most cases retaining nanny state control or paternalism.
Put housing Co-ops in your search engine and see the rich variety of excellent housing Co-ops in the UK and the world.
the Co-op bank and Co-op insurance in the UK have been unaffected by the Collapse of Casino Capitalism's approach to the world of finance. Likewise the two largest Co-operatives in the world which are Japanese Co-op's Banking/financial Co-ops
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