Lambeth aims to be first ‘Co-op Council’

Steve Reed, Leader of Lambeth Council, is looking to set up the first Co-op Council

By Kevin McGrother

March 30 2010

A local authority is making plans to brand itself as the country’s first “Co-operative Council” later this year.

The plans, which require the electorate of the London Borough of Lambeth to return a Labour-controlled council in May, are an innovative response to local government funding cuts from 2011, as council leader Steve Reed explains.

“Like all councils, we know we’re facing cuts from 2011. We don’t know by how much, but it could be between 15 and 20 per cent. The responses we could make in that scenario are to cut services, to ration them to the most needy or to charge for services. Or we could seek to find an alternative and that’s what we’re choosing to do.”

The alternative being proposed has been devised over the past five months by Cllr Reed and local MP Tessa Jowell and seeks to build on the council’s record of recent success in terms of community engagement and participation.

In 2007 Lambeth opened the country’s first — and so far only — parent-promoted secondary school, described by Cllr Reed as “a community-led alternative to an academy”.

The Elmgreen School, initially opened on a temporary site before moving to its permanent home last year, developed out of four years of partnership between a Parent Promoter Foundation (PPF) and the local authority.

The PPF, which comprises 450 members, helped to develop the school alongside the headteacher and staff. Parents form the majority of the governing body, which makes the key decisions on matters including the curriculum and the setting of budgets.

The school promotes an ethos of “family engagement”, illustrated by initiatives such as a family forum and a gardening club for parents. Cllr Reed says that education is just one area where the council encourages community involvement: “We have more tenant-managed estates, a co-operative model, than any other local authority.

”We are leading nationally on the personalisation of care budgets, handing control to care users and we are working towards the country’s biggest asset transfer by setting up a community trust to take control of the old Lilian Baylis school site in Kennington and run it as a community sport and youth hub.”

Add to this the fact that employee-owned Greenwich Leisure runs the borough’s leisure centres and the awardwinning Coin Street Community Builders is located within the borough and the council has a good base to build from.

“We will be using co-operative values to change the way services are delivered. This not only increases community involvement but also protects services and reduces costs. Values of fairness, accountability and responsibility will be applied across the whole council,” says Cllr Reed.

He is confident that his “cutting edge” ambitions will be supported by fellow councillors and the community. He is working with the Co-operative Party to draw up a statement of co-operative values and how they will be applied to the council. That statement will be endorsed by councillors.

A Citizens’ Commission is being established, made up of local residents, service users and councillors. This will publish a white paper for consultation with the community before inviting experts from the co-operative and mutual sectors to appear before the commission.

The commission will then recommend a number of initial services where the co-operative approach can be piloted before being rolled out more widely.

Under the Co-operative Council vision, Lambeth is likely to become home to a number of neighbourhood co-operatives, allowing residents in a particular area to run their own community facilities. Residents and service users will also be balloted on turning facilities such as children’s and youth centres over to co-operative management.

Another eye-catching idea to be considered by the Citizens’ Commission is an active citizens’ dividend, where those residents who get involved in running community activities and facilities could be rewarded with the equivalent of a Council Tax refund.

Cllr Reed is keen to distinguish his, and Labour’s, approach to that of the Conservative-controlled Barnet Council which, he says, is adopting a “budget airline” approach.

“They plan to offer a no-frills public service to most, with the better off being able to pay for an upgrade to a better quality service,” he says.

So would Lambeth’s exciting plans be in place if the funding cuts weren’t looming? “Cuts certainly focus the mind,” admits Cllr Reed. “It makes the need to do things differently more urgent, but I think we would have got there anyway because I think it’s the right thing to do. This is in our manifesto so if we’re re-elected it will happen — it’s then up to the Commission to determine exactly how.”