Co-operative and Social Enterprise (Development)

Jim Dobbin Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab/Co-op)]

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to ensure that each Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has at least one board member who is a co-operative or social enterprise business specialist, and that LEP plans make specific reference to development of co-operatives and social enterprises; and for connected purposes.

As both a Labour and a Co-operative Member of Parliament who represents Heywood and Middleton in the borough of Rochdale, where the co-operative movement was first formed, I am especially pleased to introduce the Co-operative and Social Enterprise (Development) Bill. In my borough, we are proud of our links to the co-operative movement, and as a co-operator, I am proud of my role with the Co-operative party.

The Co-operative party has added much to the labour movement and to public policy for many years, and I hope that that will always remain the case. I know that such a feeling is shared by many on the Opposition Benches, and perhaps even by some Government Members. As we have seen, the co-operative movement has been through an extremely tough time, and we are still plotting our course to calmer waters. I hope that the measures in the Bill will go a little way towards ensuring a bright future for co-operation and social enterprise in this country. As co-operators, we passionately believe that the values and principles underpinning co-operatives and mutuals offer an alternative business model—a more ethical and democratic way for businesses to operate—and that more must be done to ensure a level playing field for their establishment and development.

My Bill would place new duties on the Secretary of State to ensure that local enterprise partnership boards benefit from at least one co-operative and social enterprise business expert or practitioner. That is important, as the needs of co-operatives and social enterprise can be particular to their unique business models. We need new co-operative and social enterprises to flourish across the country. Ensuring that LEP boards have this type of business experience would enhance the quality of the LEP and the chances of kick-starting new co-operative and social enterprise organisations, which would in turn provide valuable training and job opportunities to constituents such as mine. I hope that it will be enacted ahead of the next round of plans.

The Bill’s second measure would ensure that LEPs’ published plans report specifically on relative successes in the development of co-operatives and social enterprises throughout the life of the LEP. That should ensure that boards do not lose sight of an important and valuable sector. It would provide an important opportunity for co-operatives and social enterprises to engage with the process and for their aspirations and the particular hurdles they must scale to be listened to properly. It would then be possible accurately to measure the success of the LEP.

The economic recovery will be sustainable only if it benefits each and every region of the UK and spans all sectors of our economic life. Opposition Members believe that that is not made easier by the coalition Government’s decision to scrap regional development agencies, which were replaced by LEPs. We are still relatively early in the development and implementation of LEPs, but they and their plans have come under significant scrutiny recently. My right hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey), writing for the Smith Institute, stated that, despite the lofty ambitions of the Deputy Prime Minister,

“Three years on…LEPs lack both resources and capabilities, with negligible budgets and no real powers to lead economic development in their areas.”

In its excellent report on local enterprise in 2013, the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee highlighted the concern that LEPs were failing to achieve the right balance and diversity of membership on their boards. It called on the Government to give more guidance to ensure that the right information was provided. I hope that the measures in my Bill will go a little way towards ensuring that those recommendations are met.

During the development of my Bill, I contacted co-operatives of all sizes around the country. I thank them for the time that they took to respond. I also thank organisations such as Social Enterprise UK for the helpful material that they provided. The responses have been overwhelmingly supportive of my aims. Many co-operatives have told me that they are struggling to engage with or be understood by LEPs. I hope to continue this work in the coming months.

Michael Heseltine’s report, “No Stone Unturned”, set out a bold—some would say rhetoric-heavy—vision of economic localism. I hope that the measures I have set out will start to make a real difference in the development of co-operatives and social enterprise within that vision.

Question put and agreed to.

Ordered,

That Jim Dobbin, John Pugh, Mr David Crausby, Fiona Bruce, Mrs Mary Glindon, Mr Joe Benton, Mr Gareth Thomas, Meg Munn and Mrs Linda Riordan present the Bill.

Jim Dobbin accordingly presented the Bill.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 6 June, and to be printed (Bill 179).