Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill Debate
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Baroness Penn
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Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill
Baroness Penn ExcerptsFriday 16th June 2023
(1 year, 6 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Act 2023 View all Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Act 2023 Debates Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Public Bill Committee Amendments as at 30 November 2022 - (30 Nov 2022)
The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury (Baroness Penn) (Con)
My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, for guiding the Bill through your Lordships’ House and for lending his wealth of knowledge and experience to our debates. I also congratulate Sir Mark Kendrick as his Bill reaches this milestone today. In particular, I recognise the close work between Sir Mark and my honourable friends the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and his predecessor, Richard Fuller, who supported the Bill through the House of Commons on behalf of the Government.
At their core, mutuals give people a stake in how businesses and organisations should be run. They make up a diverse sector of commonly owned and democratically controlled enterprises that provide vital services to their members across all industries. That is why creating the right legal apparatus in which mutuals can thrive and grow is so important. The Bill is a contribution towards that. As noble Lords said, it aims to provide the sector with options to safeguard its businesses, have more control over their funds and ensure that they are better equipped to avoid demutualisation.
Hearing support for the sector in this brief debate, I reassure noble Lords that government support for mutuals goes far beyond the Bill. The Financial Services and Markets Bill includes amendments to the Credit Unions Act to allow them to offer a wider range of products and services, and we intend to amend the Building Societies Act as part of the Edinburgh reforms package to modernise legislation for building societies. I am also happy to confirm that the Government will launch reviews of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and the Friendly Societies Act 1992, conducted by the Law Commission, with the aim of identifying essential updates to the legislation, allowing for a more modern legal structure in which mutuals can be supported to capitalise on new opportunities to grow. So the Bill is the start of more work to come to support this important sector, and I am glad that the Government can support it.