Ed Miliband hails a co-operative future for Labour councils

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Ed Miliband joined by representatives from other Labour councils

The Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband MP visited Rochdale today (15 July) to give his backing to Labour councils that are handing power to local people in a radical bid to improve public services and strengthen local communities.

Labour’s Co-operative Councils aim to work with their communities to make sure local services meet the needs of local people.

Mr Milliband joined with the leaders from Labour ran council’s up and down the country, in the magnificent setting of the Rochdale Town Hall.

The plan is to put residents in the driving seat, rather than town hall officials. The belief is almost all services can be transformed by shifting power to local people.

An example of this in Rochdale is the council’s plan to mutualise their entire council housing stock – giving residents the chance to own their own home as part of a co-operative.

Other examples include changes to youth services in Lambeth, in Liverpool neighbourhood spend has been devolved to local people and in Oldham have established three co-operative trusts schools and are introducing a Community Dividend Fund whereby partners, business and others make financial and staff time contributions for wider community benefit.

The new approach is not about turning all services into cooperatives, and it is not intended to replace skilled professionals with volunteers. It is about giving local people choice and control over the public services they use.

The way different services work will vary, but the objective of finding new ways to hand more power, choice and control to local people remains constant. By moving more local services to new ways of working, communities will take back power from the town hall and, as a result, get back control over their own destiny.

Launching the network, Ed Miliband MP said: “I’m delighted to launch this network of co-operative councils.

“These Labour councils are determined to support their local communities in the face of a Tory-led government which is doing so much to undermine local services, using the Big Society as a cloak for the withdrawal of support.

“Labour councils up and down the country are showing that they are taking action to help people take control of their lives and their local communities.”

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Colin Lambert, said the launch event “put Rochdale on the map for the right reasons.”

He said: “It is good to see this launched here in the home of the co-operative.

“For the leader of the Labour party to attend shows significance on a national level that the work we are doing locally is both supported and respected.

“In Rochdale we have a history with the co-operative. More recently, last October whilst in opposition I brought a motion to council asking the council to support co-operatives, mutuals and social enterprises.”

Examples of co-operatives in Rochdale given by Councillor Lambert include Heywood Market, PEARLS and Sunshine Care.

The big decision the council are waiting to hear about relates to a housing mutual – a new concept for any council in the UK. 

Michael Stephenson, General Secretary of the Co-operative Party said: “These Labour councils have come to the home of the co-operative movement in Rochdale to reclaim founding traditions of the Labour and Co-operative movements – of collective action and co-operation, of empowerment and enterprise.

“These co-operative councils will help transform local services and local communities.”