The Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network (CCIN) was established to promote the delivery of local services in a co-operative or co-productive manner. In the face of funding cuts, Co-operative Councils aim to transform local public services from a top-down system to a co-operative approach, involving collective actions, co-operation, empowerment and enterprise.
The co-operative approach can be applied to almost every aspect of local government, including economic development, housing, and education for example. The approach is about giving people choice and control over the public services they use, providing flexible, personalised and more effective ways of delivering services to local communities. Co-operative values can contribute to all aspects of the local economy and put long term social benefit ahead of short-term private gain.
Tameside Council was aspiring to become a member of the CCIN. As such we wanted to hear the views and suggestions of the public on co-operative working and the CCIN’s values and principles in order to help inform the process of working towards becoming a co-operative council.  
When asked which three of the values and principles of the Co-Operative Councils’ Innovation Network were the most important, the most popular options among those who responded were Co-production, Social Partnership, and Enterprise and Social Economy, with almost 50% of respondents choosing these options, respectively.
The most common responses on current examples of co-operative working in Tameside focussed on Cash Box Credit Union, the Grafton Centre, and Active Tameside. Other comments included the Tameside Macmillan Unit, Action Together, and the Take Control campaign for example. When asked for ideas and suggestions on how Tameside council could work more cooperatively, responses included more drop-in centres, whole-borough projects, engaging local communities more frequently, and supporting more services like the Grafton Centre and Cash Box Credit Union.
Feedback was also collected via engagement workshops and a Tameside Co-operative Summit, attended by over 100 people from nearly 40 different public sector, community, or voluntary organisations. Respondents and attendees were also asked to rank the co-operative principles and values most currently seen, with Enterprise and Social economy, Community Leadership, and Social Partnership ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively.  The suggestions and inputs from the consultation helped Tameside Council to achieve membership of the Co-operative Council’s Innovation Network. Together with the online survey, a Tameside Co-operative Summit, and engagement workshops with groups such as Age UK and with the Elected Members of Tameside Council, the responses to the consultation also helped inform the improvement and development of co-operative working across the borough. |
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