Turning Strategic Plans Into Art
- January 2025
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The Co-operative Council concept is five years old. Twenty-two councils have now declared themselves ‘co-operative’ and become members of the Co- operative Councils’ Innovation Network (CCIN). They can be proud of the value set they have created, and proud of the changes in culture and practice they have sought to achieve.
The context for Co-operative Councils has been stark. Massive demand challenges and a climate of fiscal austerity. Big-ticket reform areas in health, education, criminal justice and welfare are re-shaping the landscape within which they operate. The emergence of devolution and city-regional working as the new vehicle for growth and public service reform within places. And, latterly, the Brexit vote illustrates a profound disconnect between some civic institutions and the people they represent and serve.
We believe that the Co-operative Council ethos is more important than ever. It is a strong statement of intent about the power of collaboration, and a bulwark against what can feel like an increasingly fragmenting and negative political discourse. But a powerful ethos is not enough. More needs to be done to turn hitherto marginal gains into tangible shifts in mainstream practice that make a real difference to citizens.
Our hope is that Co-operative Councils can draw from the foundations outlined in this report to begin shaping answers to a problem that we have heard again and again through our research and practise with local authorities, namely: “we know more about what we don’t want than what we do…” It is up to Co-operative Councils to take the intellectual and policy risks required of their strong social ethos. They must take the lead in meeting the challenges of community dislocation with a radical approach that is fundamentally rooted in strong relationships up and down the chain from communities to ballot box and back.
Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network
Accountable Body: Oldham Council, Oldham Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham OL1 1UL
Collaborate
Clarence Centre for Enterprise & Innovation 6 St George’s Circus, London, SE1 6FE