Councils’ Cooperative Development Toolkit

• Lead Member Kirklees Council
• Participating Members Co-operative and Mutual Solutions Ltd, Co-operative Futures, Co-operatives UK, Greenwich Royal Borough, Innovation Cooperative Ltd, Kirklees Council, Oldham Council, Oxford City Council, Power to Change, South Ribble Borough Council, Stevenage Borough Council, Sunderland City Council
• Year 2024
• Status Policy Labs
• 

  Report
  Bid

About the project

This new resource from the Cooperative Councils’ Innovation Network jointly funded by Power to Change is intended to take councils from “We need more coops” to a clear understanding of what cooperatives they have, potential opportunities in their local area and well-defined steps.

The toolkit consists of four sections:

1. Back to basics: what are cooperatives, their benefits, the evidence for them and related national support.
2. What can I do? Taking you through the main areas where councils can take action to support cooperative development.
3. Doing your homework: understanding your local context and objectives.
4. Taking action: get going by identifying stakeholders, developing a theory of change, finding funding and developing an action plan.

The toolkit is the result of two years work by six CCIN Full Member Councils led by Kirklees Council and with support from four affiliate members. Within the toolkit are a wealth of resources that will help councils further strengthen their strategy for cooperative development whether they are just starting out or are building on years of existing work. It comes at an important moment when the Government has committed during their election campaign to double the size of the UK’s cooperative and mutual economy and demonstrates the fundamental role that local authorities can play in delivering this.