Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network (CCIN) - annual report to LGA Board 2023

• Lead Member: Cllr Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council and Chair of the CCIN
• Lead Officer: Jonathan Downs, Corporate Policy Lead, Oldham Council
• Email: [email protected]
• Address: Oldham Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1UL Telephone: 0161 770 5691
• Website: Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network (CCIN)

Full list of CCIN members

The CCIN is a collaboration between local authorities who are committed to finding better ways of working for, and with, local people for the benefit of their local community.

Our work recognises the need to define a new model for local government built on civic leadership, with councils working in equal partnership with local people to shape and strengthen communities.

This means a new role for local authorities that replaces traditional models of top down governance and service delivery with local leadership, genuine co-operation, and a new approach built on the founding traditions of the co-operative movement: collective action, co-operation, empowerment and enterprise. We provide a national voice for cooperative councils, informed by real experience and practice, with the aim of drawing on, influencing and framing national policy and political debates about the future of public services, local democracy, and communities across the country.

By the end of July 2022, there were 34 Full Council Members, 22 Associate Members (including ten Town and Parish Councils), and 44 Affiliate Members. Cooperative Council Members (excluding GMCA) represent 9.1m citizens and control a budget of £15bn. There are also 21 Supporters, both individuals and organisations. 

The CCIN’s profile has continued to grow, and there has been a marked increase in interest in the valuable contribution that the Network’s Members are making to municipal policy development, particularly in a post-Covid world

Highlights have included: 

• Positioned the CCIN as the fastest growing ‘cross-sector’ Network in local government
• The Leaders and Cooperative Leads Group articulated what it means to be a Cooperative Council
• Session held to promote regional cooperative banks
• Launched new website
• Approved four Policy Labs and one Policy Prototype
• Shared over 420 Case Studies with a new Case Studies Pack
• Launched three Policy Lab Reports
• Understanding the Digital Divide
  • Cooperative Approaches to Reaching Net Zero
  • Cooperative Difference in Care
• Produced a pamphlet for events introducing the CCIN and its Policy Labs
• Approved revised CCIN Constitution

Funded projects 2022

Each year CCIN Members can apply to deliver projects on behalf of the Network. This year, the budgets were increased, with larger Policy Labs now attracting up to £20,000. Here Full Council Members are encouraged to submit bids that can be delivered in partnership with other Members looking to find cooperative policy solutions to local government challenges. Smaller projects, known as Policy Prototypes, are defined to a specific locality and can attract up to £2,000. Policy Lab Updates:

For 2022 we welcomed bids from across the Network. Four Policy Lab bids were approved:

1. Democratising Policy Solutions – Lead: Rochdale MB Council
2. Art and Culture for Social Cohesion – Lead: North Hertfordshire District Council
3. Study Visit to Mondragon for CCIN Members – Led and organised by CCIN
4. Cooperative Development Toolkit – Lead: Kirklees Council

Policy Prototype updates

For 2022 we had an open call for Policy Prototype projects and had one submission approved:

• Translating Cooperative Values into ‘Social Values’ for Procurement – Lead: Oxford City Council

Publications

Cooperative Difference in Care – In 2021 we commissioned Peopletoo, an Affiliate Member, to analyse the findings of 15 of the Health and Social Care Policy Prototypes. These Policy Prototypes did not seek to respond to the entirety of the health and social care crisis facing local authorities. They were an opportunity to think creatively about specific areas where cooperative principles can provide a framework for innovative solutions that could be developed and shared across the wider Network.

Understanding the Digital Divide – This report is a practical toolkit to help tackle digital poverty and the digital divide – the gap between those who can confidently and conveniently go online and those who cannot. It provides and signposts tools to build a more robust data picture of:

• who is experiencing digital exclusion
• where they are; and
• what their barriers are to accessing services and social contact online.

And with that data picture in place, it described the interventions trialled and developed across several authority areas to promote digital engagement, compiling key documents and information for others to use.