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Members’ Update November 2024

  • 3rd Nov 2024

Welcome to my first Monthly Update since I was appointed Chair of the Network. I want to begin this edition by thanking my predecessor, Cllr Louise Gittins, and congratulating her on last month's incredible LGA Conference. The support she continues to give the Network and me is invaluable as we seek opportunities to promote our Cooperative Difference in Westminster and beyond.

I am incredibly proud to take on this exciting role as we continue to fulfil our ambition of being the fastest-growing cross-party network in local government. It is a perfect opportunity to build on the network’s success when so many co-operators are now in government.  Over the last few weeks, it has been clear that we have many friends in the Cabinet and throughout Westminster, including our Founders, Steve Reed OBE MP – Secretary of State for DEFRA, Jim McMahon OBE MP – Minister of State for English Devolution and Local Govt and Baroness Taylor, our former Chair, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government who understand the challenges faced by local government.
 
Over the last few months, we have had a hectic period of elections and in-person conferences, including the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Brighton, the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, the Cooperative Change event in Manchester and the LGA Conference in Harrogate.
 
The Network continues to go from strength to strength, and this month, we have confirmed four new members:

  • Canterbury City Council
  • Hereford City Council
  • Shrewsbury Town Council
  • Social Value Engine

 I’m also delighted to announce that the Royal Borough of Greenwich will host our Annual Conference at Woolwich Works on 12 and 13 February 2025.  Thank you to Cllr Anthony Okereke, Leader of Greenwich, for kindly offering to host us.  We are compiling an exciting programme of expert plenaries, insightful discussions, networking opportunities and more.  Please save the dates.  Registration will open at the end of the month.  The theme will be “How can the CCIN contribute to delivering the government’s missions?”.  We will welcome bids to deliver workshops on these themes at the conference in due course.
 
The network plays an integral part in the national cooperative movement and has the opportunity to play an international role.  This edition shares the latest Coops and Mutuals Economy Report from Cooperatives UK.  We also reveal the latest news from the International Cooperative Alliance: the United Nations (UN) has released the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives (IYC2025) logo. 
 
I hope that you enjoy this edition of Update.

Best wishes

Jim

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