Oral Answers to Questions

Jim McMahon Excerpts

Tuesday 7th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott]

I am, if the hon. Gentleman would just like to listen. The national living wage is up by 9.8% this year, which helps with exactly the type of costs that he is talking about.

[Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What assessment he has made of the contribution of the co-operative sector to the economy.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)]

The Government acknowledge the vital contribution that co-operatives make to the economy. The “Co-operative and Mutual Economy 2023” report found that co-operatives generated a combined annual turnover of £41 billion, a 3.7% increase from 2022 levels.

[Jim McMahon]

As the Minister outlines, co-operatives are worth £41 billion to the UK economy; moreover, they are, on average, 10% more productive than other businesses, twice as likely to survive the first five years of trading, and have higher rates of investment than other private businesses. What more can the Government do to encourage more co-operatives to thrive? Does he believe, as I do, that the creation of co-operative development agencies in every region has to be part of that?

[Bim Afolami]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point. I note his long-held interest in the co-operative sector, and the work that he does on it. So, what are the Government doing? They are doing two things specifically. First, they recently took the further step of backing the Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Act 2023; they also commissioned the Law Commission to review the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 to make sure that co-operatives can do as much as possible to benefit the wider economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jim McMahon Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Labour party and the Co-operative party have set out a shared ambition for more community-owned energy. That is not new: in Denmark, 52% of wind energy is community owned, and in Germany half of all onshore wind is community owned. Will the Government do far more to join that ambition of community-owned energy here in Britain?

[Gareth Davies]

We have ambitious plans for energy generation and our energy security. We want to bring communities with us, and we look at all options as we do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jim McMahon Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

This is something that I have discussed with regulators. My hon. Friend is right in his general point about challenger banks and the risks that they may or may not represent. It is right that we take a fresh look at this because having more competition in the banking sector is a good thing, especially for SMEs.

[Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)]

12. What recent assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the public purse of tax paid by co-operative and mutual businesses.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

I recognise the positive impact that co-operatives and mutuals have across all sectors of the economy, including retail, agriculture and financial services. No assessment has been made of the amount of tax paid by co-operative and mutual businesses, but I note that the report last year from the all-party group for mutuals found that mutuals generate over £130 billion to benefit the wider economy each year.

[Jim McMahon]

It is a matter of fact that the three largest co-ops in this country pay more tax than Facebook, Amazon and Caffé Nero combined, so not only are they creating jobs but; they are also paying fairly into the Exchequer. Will the Minister meet me and representatives from the co-op and mutuals sector to discuss that part of the economy and make sure that Britain can thrive in an inclusive way?

[John Glen]

Yes, I will. There are 7,000 co-ops across the United Kingdom, employing nearly a quarter of a million people. I have had numerous meetings over the past two years with representatives of co-ops and mutuals, and we had a mutuals workshop last July. I am very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the recent Manchester mutuals report and to see what we can do together.