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Principles met

  • Co-production

    We will develop systems that enable citizens to be equal partners in designing and commissioning public services and in determining the use of public resources.

  • Community leadership and a new role for councillors

    We will explore ways for councils to act as a platform for helping the community to contribute to local outcomes, and to re-think the role of councillors as community connectors, brokers and leaders.

  • Innovation

    We will embrace innovation in how we work with local communities to drive positive change.

  • Learning

    We will capture and ‘expand’ the experience and learning from individual projects and approaches in order to encourage broader application of co-operative principles within individual member Councils and across the Network.

  • Walking the talk

    As a membership organisation, we will make this statement of our principles operational by: • Co-operation among members: Our members work together to help each other implement our values, sharing experiences and learning. • Openness of membership: Full, Associate and Affiliate Membership is open to any qualifying Council, organisation or individual who shares our values and is committed to putting them into action. • Co-production of the Network’s work: Members help shape the Network’s work programme and the content of events and written products. • Action-focused: The network is a vehicle for helping councils translate co-operative values and principles into policy and practice. •Membership-based: The network is majority funded by modest membership subscriptions from its member Councils, Associates and Affiliates. •Non-party-political: Members share the belief that working co-operatively within and across communities holds the key to tackling today’s challenges.

Geographically North Herts District Council covers a large area including several large towns as well as many rural and village locations.  At the start of the Covid Pandemic in 2020, North Herts District Council had been working with community partner’s on establishing a local food provision network, the additional complication of the pandemic further highlighted the need for a cooperative approach across the district and though collaboration existing community food provision groups liaised with each other and NHDC to form the North Herts Food Provision Network.  A group of community organisations, CIC’s and charities focussed on ensuring food is available at a reasonable price to the whole community as well as the prevention of food waste.  The network was able to thrive due to the introduction of video conferencing tools and is now an established group serving the needs of the many diverse communities of North Herts.

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