Promote mutuals, say MPs
Author: Dominic Browne, the MJ |
Councils could miss out on the chance to improve local services if ministers do not remove barriers to staff mutuals and co-operatives, an influential group of MPs has reported.
Just a handful of councils have so far adopted mutual or co-operative models for service delivery, despite support from both the Cabinet Office and the DCLG to help employees take over local services.
In a report due to be published today (6 December), the Commons communities and local government committee claims mutuals and co-operatives have the potential to yield ‘considerable benefits’, despite ‘limited’ hard evidence to date.
Potential benefits include ‘greater customer satisfaction, an improved ability to innovate and a more motivated and productive workforce’, the MPs claim.
The committee calls on the Government to end Whitehall’s silo-based approach to promoting mutuals and co-operatives, and provide guidance for local authorities to help reduce confusion and risks.
Greater tax relief for mutuals and co-operatives should also be considered, in addition to reforming procurement rules to allow maximum flexibility for such organisations to compete with large companies. CLG committee chair, Clive Betts, said the Government had failed to join up the separate emphasis on new models promoted by the Cabinet Office and the DCLG. Mr Betts said that failure betrayed ‘an absence of rigour, enthusiasm and understanding that is essential if the mutual model for local service delivery is ever to take off’.
The committee report stresses, however, that all new organisations ‘must remain accountable to the local council and be transparent’.
‘Through commissioning and oversight processes, authorities must prevent services from fragmenting, and protect the operation and ownership of local public assets,’ the report states.