cooperatives-wales.coop

Andrew Pakes is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Peterborough, elected in July 2024. He was appointed the Government’s Co-operatives and Mutuals Champion on 28 October 2026. His published terms of reference set out  in summary as follows:

These arrangements are published by HM Treasury

Sponsor: HM Treasury

Reporting to: the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and the Minister for Small Business and Enterprise

Duration: 18 months from date of appointment

Interlink’s discussion about Community Interest Companies raises legitimate concerns about concentrated control, related-party payments and conflicts of interest. Its commitment to consultation and reciprocal questioning is welcome. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/simon-james-71b55913_hot-topic-community-interest-companies-share-7518710708541407233-nsrX/ However, some accompanying comments risk turning specific governance concerns into blanket suspicion. Wales needs rigorous assessment, accessible support and consistent standards across organisational forms. ds26:10:26CICs deserve fair scrutiny

Chris Bolton’s reflection on raising standing stones offers a powerful image of co-operation: people combining effort, knowledge and determination to achieve something beyond their individual capabilities. The stone remains visible afterwards, but another achievement matters just as much: the relationships built through doing something together. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chris-bolton-86329013_we-raised-stones-together-heres-the-final-share-7520049601270255616-g-6o/  We raised stones together 26:10:26

Matthew Reardon’s account of architecture students working with communities in Bargoed, Maerdy and Tredegar offers an encouraging vision: regeneration shaped through relationships, learning and sustained involvement https://lnkd.in/p/ecDjmYTE From a Welsh co-operative perspective, its success will depend on whether community voice develops into genuine decision-making power and shared ownership. cw19:10:26 Pride in place must mean power for communities 

Neil Duncan-Jordan’s cw:+19:10:26 Duncan-Jordan resoonse Article  identifies the injustice in social care: people’s financial security can depend on whether their needs are classified as healthcare or social support. His call for collective funding deserves support. Another review will achieve little unless it changes who pays, who provides and who decides. For Wales, however, the debate must recognise devolution. Social care policy is devolved, and England’s charging thresholds should not be presented as Welsh rules. Wales must shape its own settlement, while UK decisions on immigration and public spending influence what Welsh services can deliver.

Pride in Place, Co-operation & the Risk of Community Power Being Displaced:Are we putting Place before Party? Although dated worth a reminder.

Prepared by: Co-operatives Wales and Sheffield Co-operative Development Group

Purpose of this Briefing

In addition to our 18 June 2026 enquiry, this briefing is submitted following Andy Burnham’s election as MP for Makerfield, and in recognition of the relevance of Pride in Place to the UK and the specific debates that emerged within communities around the Makerfield constituency. Although dated with changed PM and new Secretary of State it’s a reminder of key issues that still remain which start and end with culture change.

Briefing Steve Reed- 21-06-2026

For lots of refreshing practical case studies with experience and ideas, including, Nudge (Plymouth), Dewsbury Archade, Two Up Two Down (Anfield), Co-operative Student Homes, Music Venue Properties, Co-operative Place Making & Pride in Place, The Portland Inn (Stoke on Trent), Cwmni Bro, Centre for Local Economic Strategies, Engaging children and young, Glenn Bowen (Cwmpas) and more! Go to our YouTube channel for 100+ co-operative education videos.  12thSeptCoopsWalesEvent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5AUIWpLpE8&list=PLGbE0b-Z8DOYWweIMD5_4uh_sODrUsIpo

In response to the Prime Ministers statement https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-andy-burnham-sets-out-plans-for-a-new-national-care-service Co-operatives Wales asks the Casey Commission to make democratic ownership, prevention and retention of public value central to social care reform. Although its remit concerns adult social care in England, Welsh experience offers important lessons. Reform must respect devolution while learning across borders and addressing relationships between adult care, children’s services, family support and transitions into adulthood cw:Casey Review Submission- Co-operatives

Our central concern is the protection of community value. cw Community Ownership : Right to Buy 13:10:26 Public investment, volunteer effort and locally generated wealth should remain dedicated to community benefit. Effective asset locks must prevent these gains being diverted into private enrichment, including when an organisation dissolves or sells an asset. Democratic governance, inclusive membership and accountability to the community are equally essential.

In response to the Prime Ministers statement this week we’ve asked the Casey Commission to make democratic ownership, prevention and retention of public value central to social care reform. cw:Casey Review Submission- Co-operatives UK Although its remit concerns adult social care in England, Welsh experience offers important lessons. Reform must respect devolution while learning across borders and addressing relationships between adult care, children’s services, family support and transitions into adulthood. People aged over eighty must be explicitly included in evidence gathering and decision-making, rather than subsumed into a single older-person category.

In Wales, the disconnect between social policy & practice is astonishing. Extraction weakens an already underfunded system. CLES’s Welsh learning disability research estimated £106 million profit associated with £1.1 billion public expenditure during 2020–2024. Approximately £44 million, 42% of estimated profit, was attributable to providers linked to private equity, tax-haven ownership, or both.

Submitted by Coops Wales on behalf of Welsh & Yorkshire Young Co-operator. SEP – Nothing About Us Without Us – Report cwyc:3:10:26Young Co-operators Casey Submission. Following the Prime Minsters statement this week https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-andy-burnham-sets-out-plans-for-a-new-national-care-service The Casey Commission have been asked to recognise the social care concerns of children, young people and families as well as adults. We understand its formal remit is adult social care in England. Nevertheless, reforms will be weakened if they overlook childhood, unpaid care, family relationships and transitions. We seek connected recommendations and explicit consideration of these interfaces, respecting Welsh devolution.[1]

CLES – Wales must turn its co-operative care promise into practice At the Senedd Co-op Cross Party Group meeting this week, Dr Sarah Evans’s presentation of CLES research exposed a troubling gap between Wales’s social care ambitions and how public money is spent. For the co-operative sector, the challenge is to turn commitments to voice, prevention and community wellbeing into ownership, investment and commissioning decisions that deliver them.

CLES has provided a compelling reason to act. Wales must make its co-operative commitments visible in contracts, budgets and people’s everyday lives. Success means careshaped by people, with resources strengthening the communities that sustain them.

Short video from the Coops Wales, 12 September 2026 High Street event where children and young people presented their findings on their three month research project involving 637 children and young people in Wales and England. Main event video to follow.

Our May 2024 Robert Owen Day we focused upon “Building a Co-operative Future: Law Commission Review – Radical Perspectives”.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGbE0b-Z8DOZkJsIgzSZJoRhVzoSuDiOH

We explored a bold new vision for co-operative law, specifically examining how the Law Commission, which has now partly reported (see below) could help reshape the legal landscape to create the ideal conditions for co-operative growth. The event brought together representatives from The Law Commission and Co-ops UK, alongside co-operative lawyers, sector operators, and community activists.

During one panel discussion, James Wright, Co-ops UK Head of Policy argued that the wider policy landscape suffers from a profound lack of awareness. “The practical understanding of the co-operative movement is very thin”. Wright noted. “We need a much richer understanding than we currently have. Legislation, regulations, and strategic interventions for different sectors are quite often created in a way that completely fails to countenance the existence of co-operatives. As a result, unnecessary barriers are created that actively hinder how co-operatives function.” He further emphasised that even if  governments and others successfully introduced co-operative and mutual policy impact assessments, “we would still be asked for more information about what criteria to use.”

In January 2026, to help answer this question, Co-operative News published an opinion piece by David Smith of Co-operatives Wales titled “Putting co-operation at the heart of education in Wales”  We welcome your comments and engagement in taking this agenda forward in Wales and beyond.

+ The Law Commission and Co-operatives UK have confirmed that the final report and draft Bill have been delayed due to internal resourcing and scheduling. It is officially expected to be published in early 2027. How will this make a difference in everyday understanding the co-operative model of business?

The announcement of Progressive Voices Cymru is a welcome and timely development. Wales needs spaces in which people can think seriously, creatively and ambitiously about its future, particularly at a time of economic insecurity, pressure on public services, democratic disillusionment and widening inequalities.

We urge 12:9:26 articleProgressive Voices Cymru Progressive Voices Cymru  must create meaningful space for workers, trade unionists, co-operators, young people, Disabled people,  other protected equalities characteristic communities, Welsh-speaking communities, unpaid carers, social tenants and people living in communities experiencing poverty and economic exclusion.

Digwyddiad ar-lein – Dydd Sadwrn, 12 Medi • 10am – 12.15pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/high-street-decline-and-renewal-co-op-solutions-community-action-tickets-1994539329827

Archwilio atebion cymunedol i adfywio ein Strydoedd Mawr sydd wedi colli eu bywiogrwydd. Mentrau o Lerpwl, Dewsbury a Stoke-on-Trent. + Steve Witherden AS. Hefyd, syniadau newydd yn ymwneud â cherddoriaeth a chydweithredwyr ifanc. Rydym yn gorffen drwy ganolbwyntio’n fanwl ar rôl y llywodraeth. Beth sydd angen newid i helpu adfywio cymunedol ar draws holl wledydd y DU?

Interested in Support & Collaboration: Reclaiming Empty Commercial Properties for Communities.  High Street Decline and Renewal: Co-operative Solutions & Community Action

Saturday, 12 September 2026 10.00 am to 12.15 pm – free and online

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/high-street-decline-and-renewal-co-op-solutions-community-action-tickets-1994539329827

Investigating community solutions to renew our ‘hollowed out’ High Streets. Enterprises from Liverpool, Stoke on Trent & Dewsbury. + Steve Witherden MP. + New ideas related to music and young co-operators. We conclude by focusing in detail on the role of government. What needs to change to help community regeneration across all UK countries?