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Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network (CCIN) - annual report to LGA Board 2024

Special Interest Group annual report to LGA Board


Contact details

  • 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
  • WebsiteCo-operative Councils’ Innovation Network (CCIN)

Membership

Aims

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.

Priorities

The Co-operative Councils Innovation Network (CCIN) aims to drive innovation and best practices in local government through cooperative principles and collaborative efforts. Aligning this with the themes and priorities in the LGA People Plan for 2023-2025 reveals several areas of co-operation:

  1. Inclusivity and dversity: The CCIN Focuses on inclusivity by involving community members in decision-making processes and ensuring diverse representation.
  2. Collaboration and innovation: The CCIN promotes collaborative working and sharing best practices among councils to drive innovation in public services.
  3. Employee development and support: The CCIN supports the development of council staff through shared learning and cooperative projects.
  4. Recognition and engagement: The CCIN values the contributions of all members and encourages active engagement from all stakeholders.

Key activities/outcomes of work undertaken

By the end of July 2023, there were 45 Full Council Members, 23 Associate Members (including twelve town, parish and community councils), and 49 Affiliate Members. Co-operative council members (excluding GMCA) represent 11.7m citizens and control a budget of £19.3bn. 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:

  • ehe number of Full Member Councils has increased by almost one third, from 34 to 45 councils.
  • four Opposition Groups in our Associate Members took control of their council in May 2023 and have transitioned into Full Council members.
  • the CCIN is the fastest-growing cross-sector Network in local government.
  • bestowed the titles of Honorary Vice President on Jim McMahon OBE, MP, and Baroness Sharon Taylor OBE
  • funded four Policy Labs & five Policy Prototypes.
  • published 478 case studies on our website
  • organised a Study Visit to Mondragon
  • Launched three Policy Lab Reports
    • Cooperation at the grassroots
    • Growing an inclusive cooperative economy
    • Community economic development plans.

Funded projects 2023

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 2023 we welcomed bids from across the network. Four policy lab bids were approved: 

  1. Coop Option Training – Lead: Kirklees Council 
  2. Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls – Lead: Trafford Council 
  3. Social Value Toolkit for Councils – Lead: Oxford City Council
  4. Study Visit to Emilia-Romagna – Led and organised by the CCIN

Policy prototype updates

For 2023 we had an open call for Policy Prototype projects and approved the following: 

  1. Engaging & empowering the residents of Woolwich Common Estate – Greenwich Council 
  2. Co-operative Community Bank of Kindness – Stevenage Borough Council 
  3. Turning Strategic Plans into Art – Inverclyde Council 
  4. Cooperative Culture Making in Rochdale – Rochdale Council
  5. Health and wellbeing support delivered via a Community Wellbeing Project – Brent Council.

Publications

Community economic development plans

Community Economic Development Plans as a tool for fostering co-operative working between councils and the community. Community economic development planning or CEDP is a process of economic development within a specific geographic area, to make the economy in that area work well for that community.

This report was prepared by Co-operative Futures on behalf of Birmingham City Council who led the project. The case studies outlined in this report demonstrate the value to Local Authorities of working in cooperation with communities to undertake community economic development planning.

Cooperation at the grassroots

The partner councils (Burntwood Town Council, North Herts District Council, Stevenage Borough Council and Sunderland City Council) worked together to demonstrate how cooperative councils can embed neighbourhood working to deliver better outcomes and better value for money, through a cooperative model of organisation and delivery at a local level.

This report includes a fabulous set of video case studies and was launched in November 2022.

Growing an inclusive cooperative economy

The steering group led by Oxford City Council delivered a test and learn pilot on cooperative mapping, looking at creating a directory of cooperatives in the city’s areas of deprivation. To promote co-op growth, this directory can be shared with large anchor institutions’ procurement teams to prioritise when choosing suppliers to generate local, social value. 

Torbay Council and Stevenage Borough Council were also both steering group members. They delivered test and learn pilots in Torbay, focusing on care cooperative development, and in Stevenage, on social inclusion. Approaches included promoting community wealth-building and inclusive economy initiatives focusing on embedding social value in procurement across anchor organisations; community mapping; financial support; advice, and awareness-raising.