A co-operative

agenda for
London 2012

the london co-operative party

2 The London Co-operative Party
 Contents

Foreword.................................................................... 5
Summary.................................................................... 6
An Economy in all our Interests.................................. 8
Building for the Future.............................................. 12
Co-operative Communities....................................... 17
Ethical London.......................................................... 21
Sustainable Infrastructure......................................... 25
About the Co-operative Party................................... 29
Acknowledgements.................................................. 30

A Co-operative Agenda for London 3

4 The London Co-operative Party
Foreword
The London Co-operative Party has gone from strength to strength in recent years
and in 2012 we have an excellent opportunity to take our ideas to the people of
London as part of Ken Livingstone’s campaign. The London Party has thousands of
members and campaigns on a wide variety of important issues. We are well served
by an experienced executive and many committed activists.

The vote for a new Mayor and Assembly in 2012 will be crucial to steer the future
course of our city and we must all fight to get Ken and our Assembly candidates
elected.

London has been badly let down by the current Mayor, who has consistently focused
on self-promotion, just at the time that the people of London needed strong leader-
ship on the real issues: the economy, crime, transport, poverty, inequality and oppor-
tunities for young people.

That is why I believe the Co-operative Party can make such a difference.

In this manifesto we put forward a co-operative vision for jobs, for skills, for clean
and efficient energy use, for better transport and for stronger communities. We have
the ideas and the commitment to build a greener, more equal and safer London.

The Co-operative Party has seen great success nationally in recent years and we
know that our ideas can make a real difference to people’s lives. I believe that this
manifesto will be of great use to co-operators in London and to Ken’s campaign.

2012 is the UN International Year of Co-operatives and so a hugely exciting year for
our movement and our Party. We should be proud of our vision for a Greater London
Commonwealth based on co-operative values and we should speak up together for
those values and principles of co-operation.

Gareth Thomas MP
Co-operative Party Chair
National Executive Committee member for London

A Co-operative Agenda for London 5

 Summary
London is one of the world’s great cities. Wonderfully diverse and varied; a city packed with
entrepreneurialism and bright new ideas; a cultural capital with a rich history. The people of
London have a lot to celebrate and of which to be proud.
In recent years though, Londoners have faced a series of problems that are not being taken
seriously by the current Mayor. Personal finances are being tightly squeezed by high hous-
ing costs, government spending cuts, increasing transport fares, stagnant wages, ballooning
energy bills and a lack of opportunities for young people. London is increasingly separated
between those with money, opportunity and power, and those without. The Mayor has failed
to take firm action on reducing carbon emissions, creating jobs, building new affordable
homes or encouraging a community approach to reduce crime and resolve tensions.
London is already too unequal and the current Mayor’s policies are taking our city in the wrong
direction. We need a new Mayor who takes a serious approach to these serious issues.
The Co-operative Party has the ideas and the vision to build a strong, equitable and green
London.
We are the Party that stands up for organisations and businesses that put people before
profit. We believe that Londoners should be given direct democratic power – over their hous-
ing, their culture, their environment and the Olympic Legacy. By bringing people together,
issues such as fuel poverty, affordable housing and community policing can be more effec-
tively tackled.
Our agenda is not about selling off services, or relying on volunteers. We believe that a
co-operative future for London should promote and build upon the best of the co-operative
movement. A movement founded on the idea that ordinary people can work together to im-
prove their own lives and their communities by coming together for a common purpose.

Our policies at a glance

The manifesto is split into five themes.
1. An Economy in all our Interests (p.6)
• The Mayor and Assembly should promote the growth of co-operatives to create jobs by
incentivising lending to start-up co-op enterprises, appointing a City Hall ‘Co-operative
Commission’ and exploring options to expand co-operative business development.
• Access to affordable and fair financial services is critical to build a better economy in
London. The Mayor should support community finance initiatives and aspire that all Lon-
doners will have access to a credit union by the end of the mayoral term.
• The Mayor should advocate a more diverse banking system and stand up for customer
owned banking as a crucial element in reform of the City.
2. Building for the Future (p.10)
• All Londoners should have access to affordable homes over which they have real control.
The Mayor and Assembly should look to bring London’s co-operative housing stock up to
the European average of 10%.

6 The London Co-operative Party

• Existing social housing stock should be made more accountable to tenants, through the
development of Tenant Management Co-operatives and promotion of co-operative hous-
ing options during stock transfer.
• London needs more affordable housing. The Co-operative Party’s New Foundations
model is an excellent way to make sure that new housing is accessible and sustainable.
• The Mayor should promote mutual forms of retirement homes.
• The Olympic Legacy must be in the interests of the communities of East London. We
propose that the new homes and facilities should be owned mutually by residents.
3. Co-operative Communities (p.15)
• The Mayor and GLA should work with local authorities to encourage the transfer of com-
munity assets – such as city farms – to the control of local people. The Mayor should
advocate a new ‘community gateway’ model to make this process transparent, account-
able and in the best interests of the communities.
• The Mayor should look to mutual models to make cultural events, such as Notting Hill
Carnival, accountable to their communities.
• The Mayor should support and promote the Co-operative Councils initiative.
• The Mayor should promote inclusive, community policing and crime reduction partner-
ships. It is important to protect police outreach budgets as well as maintaining officers
on the beat.
• Young Londoners must have a real democratic voice. We support votes at 16 for the
mayoral and GLA elections, a co-operative Youth Assembly and encouraging young peo-
ple to be ambassadors for greater democracy in their communities.
4. Ethical London (p.19)
• The Mayor and Assembly must ensure that London takes seriously its position as the
world’s largest Fairtrade city. Embedding Fairtrade in City Hall and in London’s sporting
and cultural events is vital.
• London’s green spaces – such as the Royal Parks - should be made more accountable to
Londoners and ‘brownfield’ sites used to develop local food production.
• The Mayor and GLA should use 2012, the UN’s Year of Co-operatives, to promote our
movement and teach the values of co-operation.
• We need leadership to improve London’s record on food consumption and waste. Not only
should City Hall set the highest standards, but also the Mayor should promote sustainable
consumption to London citizens by publicising what has been achieved and how.
5. Sustainable Infrastructure (p.23)
• The Mayor should promote and develop consumer energy co-operatives as a radical way
to cut fuel poverty, tackle climate change and address the cost of living crisis.
• The Mayor and Assembly should encourage community transport to cut costs and de-
velop greener public transport alternatives.
• London’s infrastructure should be better integrated and ‘smarter’. The new Mayor should
advocate a smart city approach and improved access to broadband, especially through
telecoms co-operatives.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 7

 An economy in all our interests
Harnessing co-operatives to create jobs and address inequality in London.
Londoners are facing a crisis in the cost of living brought on by the increasing price of basic
goods, low wage growth, job losses and higher energy and housing costs. These pressures
compound the inequality that often seems endemic in London, a city which includes some
of the poorest communities in the UK as well as the headquarters of international invest-
ment banks. The current London Mayor has done very little to address basic economic
issues that are of pressing concern to most ordinary Londoners. We need a Mayor and an
Assembly who take the financial challenges of ordinary Londoners seriously and stand up for
businesses that put people before profit.
The Co-operative Party advocates an agenda for jobs, for skills and to address inequality. We
believe that the new Mayor and Assembly should look to harness the potential of co-opera-
tives to create decent jobs and promote financial inclusion and education. The Co-operative
agenda is a pro-growth agenda – we support enterprise, innovation and job-creation. But,
crucially, co-operative business and mutual finance is not about generating profits for share-
holders. Co-operatives are businesses with values, run for the benefit of their members and
their communities.
We believe that by promoting co-operative businesses and values, the new Mayor can radi-
cally improve London’s economy and society.

Our vision: London’s co-operative and financial mutual sector is

harnessed by the new Mayor as a way to create jobs, tackle fi-
nancial exclusion and promote financial education. The GLA puts
energy and resources behind a drive to support small and large
co-operative businesses and promotes the values that make co-
operatives successful and ethical enterprises.

Promoting co-operatives to create jobs

The co-operative economy has seen great success in recent years. Since 2008, turnover
of co-operative businesses nationally has increased by 21%, far out-performing the UK
economy as a whole. The Co-operative Party welcomes the national and regional success of
co-operatives, credit unions and mutual finance.
We believe that the Mayor can harness the success of co-operatives by providing support for
their growth and potential for job creation in London.
• The Mayor and Assembly should put support for co-operative and mutual enterprises at
the core of the London economic development strategy.
• An Assembly member should be given ‘the co-operative economy’ within their policy
portfolio and tasked with promoting co-operative enterprise.
• In addition, the Mayor should appoint a ‘Co-operative Commission’, with strong links into
co-operative and mutual businesses, in City Hall to co-ordinate different agencies and
funding streams to support the growth of co-operatives and creation of jobs.

8 The London Co-operative Party

• The Mayor should look at options for partnering with the co-operative sector to provide
start-up finance for new co-operatives.
• The Olympic Park and Legacy provides opportunities for new jobs in East London. The
Mayor and Assembly should work to ensure that there is adequate support for start-up
businesses which look to benefit and involve the community.
Co-operative development in London could be better co-ordinated and integrated, as it is in
other parts of the country. Currently London’s co-operative development is only just begin-
ning to form a central co-ordinated base, with scattered organisations and initiatives across
the boroughs with too few resources.
The Co-operative Party believes that the Mayor should invest in greater co-operative devel-
opment in London to foster the creation of new co-operative businesses and promote the
co-operative model. New initiatives should work with existing co-operative development
structure and expand on them where appropriate. Any new services should provide business
support and advice, as well as funding an increased number of skilled co-operative develop-
ment workers.
• The Mayor and Assembly should drive an initiative to support co-operative development in
London, this could include exploring options to better integrate existing co-operative de-
velopment agencies. Any new co-operative development initiative should seek to gener-
ate a proportion of its own funding from consultancy, which would also help to cement a
culture of enterprise within the organisation. Such an initiative could also develop revenue
streams by providing advice and loans to consumer utility co-operatives.

Fostering new businesses

One of the major ramifications of the credit crisis felt in London and across the country is
the drying up of business loans from mainstream lenders. Access to finance to start or grow
a business is crucial if we are to reduce unemployment and foster the talent and entrepre-
neurialism of Londoners.
Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) already provide vital credit for small
businesses unable to access finance from mainstream lenders but the demand for such ser-
vices, and the value that they create, is not yet fully realised in London.
• The Co-operative Party believes that the Mayor and Assembly should commit to foster-
ing new small businesses which create jobs and are often the lifeblood of communities.
A London economy in all our interests is one which is able to provide support for smaller
enterprises, including local co-operatives, as they form the overwhelming majority of Lon-
don businesses by number.
• The Mayor and Assembly should work with boroughs, mainstream lenders and others
to set up a Small Business Growth Fund for viable small businesses unable to access
mainstream lending. There is great potential for City Hall to leverage investment from
the private sector through the provision of first risk capital. The capital provided could be
structured so as to benefit a portfolio of borrowers, including co-operatives and mutual en-
terprises. The private investment can be sourced from the very same mainstream lenders
who are unable to offer the service needed by small businesses.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 9

 Supporting London’s community finance
Financial mutuals, such as building societies and credit unions, are run in the interests of
their members, not external shareholders. Credit unions have seen increasing success in
London over the last decade and the Co-operative Party welcomes this. We would like to see
credit unions promoted by a new Mayor and Assembly to improve access to financial ser-
vices and as a credible, attractive alternative for the banking needs of whole communities.
Recent research on the credit union sector in London has highlighted the need for strong
community finance initiatives in the capital, as well as noting the success of credit unions in
London in recent years. 57% of low-income Londoners are credit users, while 61% of Lon-
doners have no savings. Legal loan sharking and illegal money lending are sometimes seen
as the only viable options, a situation that it is vital to change.
The Co-operative Party believes that the new Mayor and Assembly should take seriously the
challenge of supporting community finance by working with industry and borough partners.
• The Co-operative Party believes that the new Mayor and Assembly should commit to the
aspiration that every Londoner has access to a credit union by the end of the Mayor’s
term. Currently there are borough wide credit unions in all but five boroughs. However we
believe that this aspiration should recognise that credit union expansion should be organic
and incremental, working with existing credit unions.
• The Mayor should champion a new scheme to provide targeted business support to Lon-
don’s credit unions. City Hall staff should be encouraged to second into credit unions and
the Mayor should press banks to set up exchange schemes and training opportunities for
credit union staff.
• The Mayor should take a lead on the growth of credit unions by ensuring that payroll
deduction facilities to credit unions are available to employees of City Hall and the public
bodies it oversees as a default employment benefit.
Whilst it is vital that communities have access to decent financial services, it is also impor-
tant that they have access to good financial education. The Mayor and Assembly should
provide leadership within London to build knowledge and skills on financial issues.
• The Mayor and Assembly should partner with the co-operative movement, boroughs and
others to fund ‘Money Mentors’ to provide financial education through the credit union
network for credit union members.
• The Mayor and Assembly should work with the credit union sector to help expand the
work in primary and secondary schools undertaken by the credit union sector, to teach
young people about sound financial management and raise awareness of community
finance initiatives.

10 The London Co-operative Party

A better way to do business
The financial crisis and recession have shown that London’s economy is overly exposed to
risky lending from some parts of our financial services. Currently London’s financial services
are dominated by a single business model – the large, shareholder owned plc. Research
has suggested that stability is increased through greater diversity of service providers. The
Co-operative Party believes that a strong a vibrant mutual sector would help us to avoid the
mistakes of the past.
• The Mayor should support the development of greater diversity in financial services, by
advocating the responsible lending of building societies and mutuals as well as the co-
operative business ethos.
• The Mayor should work with national Government to develop a ‘diversity index’ for
London’s financial services, which seeks to create a more stable and equitable balance
between plc and mutual financial services. This could be underpinned by a ‘diversity
threshold’, which would be a target for government and regulators. The diversity index
and threshold should be embedded within the new national regulatory architecture that is
likely to be in place by late 2012.
The Co-operative Party believes that inequality is damaging to both society and the econ-
omy. Low income families in London have been abandoned by the national government
and current Mayor, whilst the richest are increasingly divorced from their communities. We
need a Mayor who takes inequality seriously and has a strategy to make London a more
equal city. Co-operatives operate ethically and responsibly and invest within their com-
munities. We believe that promoting the co-operative ethos will benefit all of London by
making our city more equal.
• The Mayor and Assembly should support the Living Wage campaign.
• The Mayor should promote co-operative businesses as a way to address inequality, using
the 2012 UN Year of Co-operatives as a platform.
• The Mayor should look at incentives within current capital and revenue streams for start-
up businesses, from City Hall, central Government and Europe and press for measures to
incentivise those who are looking to set up businesses that benefit their communities or
are structured as mutuals and co-operatives.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 11

 Building for the future
Delivering co-operative, affordable and sustainable living in London.
Access to decent and affordable housing is a critical issue for Londoners. Pressure on mort-
gage affordability has come in recent years from four factors: a contraction in house building,
demographic shift (a growing population and more single households), greater prosperity
and a slowdown in lending following the financial crisis. Equally, private rents in London are
soaring above the national average while wage growth has been stagnant. Young people and
those on lower incomes are disproportionately affected, trapped between options of high
rent, reduced state subsidy or unaffordable deposits for mortgages. Housing has become a
key source of intergenerational and social injustice.
On top of these pressures, housing policy – both from City Hall and Westminster - is hit-
ting the most vulnerable hardest. Loss of security of tenure for social housing tenants will
have an enormous impact on the wellbeing of thousands of Londoners. The housing benefit
ceiling has been cut to 30% of market rents, whilst there are further cuts of 11.5% to the
Supporting People Budget and of 13% for those on housing benefit with a spare bedroom.
Indeed, the new ‘affordable rent scheme’, is stretching beyond recognition the very term
‘affordable’. In addition, City Hall has failed to meet both its own house building targets and
scrapped the aspiration of the previous Mayor for half of all new builds to be genuinely af-
fordable.
Londoners deserve better and we believe that co-operative housing provides a much needed
alternative. Co-operative housing models give residents and tenants real control over their
conditions of living through embedding democracy. Evidence from the Tenants Services
Authority, published by the Commission on Co-operative and Mutual Housing, shows that
co-operative housing is by far the most popular with tenants on all indicators tested. Co-
operative housing organisations also establish and sustain community identity by bringing
people together to make decisions on their future. The Co-operative Party is promoting and
pioneering new models of ownership that provide affordable and sustainable living and could
be used to alleviate the pressure on London’s housing.

Our vision: Every Londoner has access to an affordable, decent

home over which they have democratic control or mutual own-
ership. Londoners are given real, democratic control over their
Olympic legacy.

The Co-operative Party believes that the principles and models of housing co-operatives
should be central to London’s statutory future housing policy.
• The Mayor should include a ‘co-operative and mutual housing vision’ at the heart of the
next London Housing Strategy and London Plan which includes a commitment to raise
the level of co-operative housing in London to the European average of 10%.

12 The London Co-operative Party

Democratic Housing
Housing Association boards are too often controlled by housing professionals, rather than
tenants. Housing co-operatives and co-operatives principles at the heart of other tenures will
give people control over their lives. Stock transfer provides an opportunity to develop demo-
cratic, co-operative principles in social housing.
The Housing Strategy and London Plan should include commitments to:
• Ensure councils prioritise co-operative and mutual housing when considering stock trans-
fer. Local authorities should be encouraged to change their ‘value for money’ methodol-
ogy to recognise the social, personal and economic benefits of housing co-operatives and
other mutual community owned and managed housing.
• Ensure that tenants considering application for stock transfers are aware of the co-oper-
ative and mutual options available. This should be co-ordinated with Boroughs and with
appropriate London agencies.
• Ensure that when local authorities hold ballots on stock transfer, tenants are able to vote
for a community-led transfer. The models available should include the Community Mutual
model and the Community Gateway model.
Almost a quarter of housing stock in London is social housing, going up to half for some East
London boroughs. It is vital that housing associations and local authority social housing can
be made more democratic even if they are not co-operatives.
• The Mayor should declare a London tenant ‘right to manage’ in the Housing Strategy. In
local authority housing, this should take the form of Tenant Management Co-operatives
who would take over the management of day to day running of the housing stock. The
right to manage should also be extended to housing association stock and the Mayor can
encourage this through targeting subsidies to those associations which have tenant repre-
sentation on boards.
• The Mayor should commit in the Housing Strategy to make subsidies for new develop-
ments for housing associations contingent on greater democracy in the association. Sub-
sidy should only be granted to associations that enable their tenants to exercise the right
to manage as a co-operative and include tenant participation on their board.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 13

 New Foundations
The Co-operative Party supports Labour’s commitment to build more affordable homes in
London. We believe that the core principles of new investment should be:
• 50% of new build housing should be affordable.
• 30% of new affordable housing should be co-operative addressing in particular intermedi-
ate affordable provision. This will start to move London towards the European average of
10% co-operative housing.
The basis for new investment in co-operative housing in London should come from the Co-
operative Party’s ‘New Foundations’ model.
The New Foundations model, developed by the Co-operative Party and CDS Co-operatives,
separates the cost of the land from the purchase price, through the use of a community land
trust. The homes are financed by a corporate loan taken out by the co-operative. Residents
would be able to start by paying rent to the co-operative and then be able to buy equity
shares in the co-operative when their income permitted them to do so. Rent is geared to be
affordable at 35% of net household income.
Initial capital subsidy is released over time as members incomes rise, allowing members to
buy more equity shares. The community land trust can then use this capital to invest in more
affordable homes.
• New investment in affordable co-operative housing should be based on the Co-operative
Party’s ‘New Foundations’ model.
• The Mayor and Assembly should press Government to pass any necessary legislation to
support London’s Co-operative Housing Vision.
• The Mayor should follow the example of the Huw Lewis, the Labour Co-operative housing
minister in Wales, with an aspiration for 10% of housing stock to be co-operative.
The New Foundations model is attractive because it tackles head on the major issues for
London’s future housing provision. It brings affordability as it allows for mixed tenure – both
an equity stake through co-operative ownership and co-operative rent.
The model is also well placed for institutional investment, such as from pension funds, due
to the long-term and mutual nature of the community land trust offering a secure asset
which generates reliable cashflows.
• The Mayor should work with Boroughs to promote housing co-operatives as an invest-
ment opportunity for pension funds.
• The Mayor should work with large co-operative and mutual finance institutions to secure
investment for housing co-operatives based on the New Foundations model. The Mayor
should show willingness to back the scheme financially giving investors greater confi-
dence in the assets, which are already much more secure than many other social finance
investments.
• The Mayor should press the government to ensure that some funding from ‘Big Society
Capital’ bank is ring-fenced for co-operative affordable housing schemes in London.
• The Mayor and Assembly should set up a working group to report on the feasibility of a
London ‘Co-operative and Community Housing Bank’, privately funded, to invest in hous-
ing co-operatives and other community owned and managed housing.

14 The London Co-operative Party

In order to help secure co-operative housing as an alternative source of affordable housing,
the Mayor and Assembly should press for national legislation to recognise co-operative hous-
ing as a distinct tenure.
• The Mayor should press UK parliamentary colleagues to pass national legislation to create
a distinct form of co-operative housing tenure. This should build upon the work of Co-
operative MPs who tabled a 10 minute rule bill on this issue in the Autumn of 2011.
There is also a real opportunity to link new investment in house building with environmental
sustainability. Housing co-operatives are often at the forefront of green living, encouraging
their development will also help achieve our shared environmental goals for London. The
Mayor and Assembly must work to ensure that as we develop much needed new affordable
housing, we also consider energy efficiency and climate change adaptation.
• The Mayor’s Housing Strategy must include financial incentives for greater energy ef-
ficiency, such as making funding for new builds contingent on the installation of smart
meters or improved insulation.
• The Mayor’s Housing Strategy should include the target for all new housing to meet level
6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
• The next Mayor’s Housing Strategy should include a consideration of the projected im-
pacts of climate change and provide recommendations for how funding can be used to
incentivise resilient building and the retrofit of existing stock.

Mutual Retirement
London, like the rest of the UK, faces changing demographic pressures over coming dec-
ades. It is crucial that older people have decent options for housing in retirement, which are
affordable and allow residents to retain the ability to take their own decisions about their
housing.
Whilst the majority of people will remain in the own homes and some may need to move
into residential care for health reasons, many older people are deciding to sell their existing
homes and buy into private sector retirement housing.
Mutual alternatives to private sector providers of retirement housing could provide many
older people with an improved quality of life whilst helping them retain control over decisions
within their housing. Mutual retirement housing is also an attractive alternative as it can help
foster companionship, boost self confidence and reduce dependency.
Mutual retirement housing in London could be developed along similar lines to the ‘New
Foundations’ model, with residents becoming members of a co-operative which owns the
land on which the retirement housing is built. Capital could be provided by residents from
the sale of their existing homes and loan capital from commercial lenders.
• The Mayor and Assembly should work with local authorities to encourage mutual alterna-
tives in retirement housing.
• The Mayor should press for necessary legislative changes to give mutual forms of retire-
ment housing a level playing field with private providers.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 15

 London’s Olympic Legacy
The London 2012 Olympics are a great opportunity for our city. Not only are we showcasing
the world’s sporting talent and encouraging greater participation in sport, but we are re-de-
veloping a part of London that has long been in need of greater investment. The key principle
of that re-development and legacy should be that the people of London come first.
So far, the people of East London have not had a big enough say in the legacy. It is not
enough just to votes for the names of the new communities – the existing communities
should have a real say in how their area develops.
The Co-operative Party welcomes the opportunities that the Olympics bring to London. It
is now crucial that the ownership and control of the legacy is put into the hands of ordinary
Londoners.
• The Co-operative Party believes that legacy decisions should be as accountable as possi-
ble to the people affected.
• The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) should be more accountable to local people.
The Mayor and Assembly should commit to quickly exploring options for reforming the
board of the OPLC to include elected representatives from the affected boroughs.
• The Mayor should encourage the use of housing co-operatives to provide at least 30% of
the new affordable housing, reflecting the policy for London as a whole.
• The Mayor should press for the 8000 new homes created as part of the Olympic invest-
ment to be made as accountable as possible to residents and tenants.
• Community groups should be encouraged to come together to take ownership of the as-
sets from the Olympic investment – parks, shops and sporting facilities.
• The Mayor should encourage the use of co-operatives in improving the sustainability of
the Olympic legacy. By championing the Olympic legacy homes, businesses and facili-
ties as a new consumer and producer energy co-operative with additional investment in
renewable energy, insulation and smart meters, the Mayor could help the new site reduce
fossil fuel dependence and target fuel poverty.
• As well as being the year in which the Olympics come to London, 2012 is the UN’s Inter-
national Year of Co-operatives. The Mayor and Assembly should use this opportunity, and
that of the Olympic legacy, to promote and endorse co-operative values of self-help, self-
responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.

16 The London Co-operative Party

Co-operative Communities
Strengthening London’s communities by passing real power to citizens
London is a vibrant and diverse capital, built up of thousands of communities, cultures and
identities. The Co-operative Party will always celebrate and promote London’s social richness
and we believe that the ideas and actions of our movement bring people together across
the city for collective benefit. At their core, co-operatives and mutuals are organisations
and businesses that give a democratic voice to all their members. We believe that the new
Mayor and Assembly must draw upon the co-operative ethos as they seek to strengthen the
bonds of community that are so vital to London.
Over the last two years our city has experienced protests, riots and severe cuts to local ser-
vices. These events and decisions threaten the fabric of communities and threaten to isolate
groups while turning them against one another. It is vital for London that the new Mayor and
Assembly stand up for strong and co-operative communities in which people feel safe.
Crime fell across London under Ken Livingstone, whilst incidents of knife crime and gang vio-
lence have risen under the current Mayor. Funding for the Metropolitan Police is crucial, but
ensuring that police officers are able to engage effectively with the communities they serve
is equally vital. We must also ensure that young people are given respect, opportunities and
a democratic voice.
The Co-operative Party believes that a serious plan for London’s future should include the
recognition that co-operative communities are safer and stronger.

Our vision: The Mayor and Assembly press for greater ownership
of community and cultural assets by the people who use them,
whilst encouraging young people to become active and co-opera-
tive members of their communities.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 17

 Young co-operators
Young people in London are often given a bad name in the national and local press, despite
all of their positive contributions to our city. The Co-operative Party wants to see a greater
voice for young Londoners, in terms of access to democracy and engagement in services.
We believe the Mayor and Assembly should help to bring young people into the centre of
London’s communities, rather than forcing them to the margins.
• The Mayor and Assembly should press for votes from 16 in future London Authority elec-
tions. This policy could be seen as part of an agenda to engage young voters and would
be an excellent pilot for the country.
• The Mayor and Assembly members should work with borough partners to encourage a roll
out of Lambeth’s ‘Youth Mayor’ initiative across London. This hugely successful scheme has
engaged young people and attracted over 20,000 votes since it was set up in 2008.
• To support the borough level ‘Youth Mayor’ project, the GLA should set up a ‘Youth As-
sembly’, resourced from City Hall but which goes out to the boroughs and engages young
people through social media to increase accessibility. The Youth Assembly should be struc-
tured as a co-operative– with an open and democratic membership and signed up to the
values of the co-operative movement. The Youth Assembly would be a forum for young
people to take their concerns or questions to the Mayor and GLA.
• These initiatives to increase the democratic voice of young Londoners should be united
with a drive to encourage young people to engage with their communities. Each October
in ‘local democracy week’, young people should be encouraged by the Mayor and Assem-
bly members, in collaboration with borough partners, to go into their communities and
help people sign on to voting registers.
• The Mayor should use the UN International Year of Co-operatives to encourage a drive to edu-
cate young people about the value of co-operatives in their communities. The Mayor should
partner with the co-operative movement and others to sponsor ‘Co-operative Ambassadors’
to go into London’s schools and engage young people on the ideas of our movement.

Co-operative Councils
The Co-operative Councils Network is a network of Labour Councils that are implementing
co-operative policies and ways of providing services, which give communities power and
a real say over the ways they are run. The new initiative aims to spread best practice and
encourage co-operative solutions in local government. The Co-operative Party and the LGA
Labour Group jointly launched the network in 2011.
• Co-operative approaches can be applied to almost every aspect of local government, includ-
ing community regeneration and economic development, youth services, housing, leisure,
social services and education. The precise model is different from service to service, but the
approach is the same – working together, building self-reliance, encouraging innovation.
• The Mayor and Assembly should work with boroughs to encourage the promotion and
development of the Co-operative Councils initiative in London. Currently one council (Lam-
beth) and one Labour group (Redbridge) are within the network in London.
The Mayor and Assembly should engage with the Co-operative Council Network to ensure
that City Hall also benefits from the ideas coming out of the network and is able to work ef-
fectively with the councils involved.

18 The London Co-operative Party

Community and cultural assets
Swingeing public spending cuts from national government to local authority budgets, alongside
a weak economy, have put many of the services and facilities for London’s communities at risk.
Children’s playgrounds, city farms, lidos, pubs and community shops across the capital are fac-
ing closure or sale. It is vital that these facilities remain in the use of their community as often
such places are focal points that bring a mix of people together and provide vital services.

Such community assets could be taken over and run by local people to avoid closure, pro-
vided that there are adequate revenue streams and good business support. This is not about
voluntarism, but rather fostering community owned businesses that employ staff and pro-
vide reliable services.

The Co-operative Party endorses the findings of the Quirk Review and believes that local and
national authorities should work to increase the rate of asset transfer. The Co-operative Party
advocates the use of community benefit societies as the best legal model to ensure that as-
sets remain accountable and in the public interest.
• Whilst community assets – such as playgrounds and city farms - are often under local
authority rather than GLA control, the Mayor and Assembly should use their position to
advocate the process of community asset transfer to ownership and management by
local people, especially when such assets face closure or sale to a private company. The
Mayor and Assembly should promote the community benefit society model as the best
means for this transfer.

Whilst the Co-operative Party believes that London would benefit from having more commu-
nity assets locked into local ownership, we understand that the process of asset transfer is
itself often complex and difficult in particular circumstances. More should be done to ensure
that communities have a voice and a stake in the process of asset transfer, in order that they
feel it is something led by the community, rather than imposed on it.
• The Mayor and Assembly, working with local authority partners, should set up a ‘commu-
nity gateway model’ for London’s asset transfer, based on the community gateway model
for housing stock transfer. This model would ensure that communities can develop the
process of asset transfer at their own pace.

The Co-operative Party believes that London’s cultural heritage can also be made more ac-
countable to local people. The world famous Notting Hill Carnival, which attracts over one mil-
lion visitors per year would benefit from greater accountability to the community. The new
Mayor and Assembly should look again at the review into the Carnival commissioned by Ken
Livingstone in 2004 which noted the need for the Carnival to incorporate the diverse views
of interested parties and secure sustainable funding.
• The Mayor and Assembly should explore the possibility of facilitating a move by Carnival
organisers to create a member owned Notting Hill Carnival mutual. Not only would an
open and democratic member mutual be accountable to the community and interested
parties, but mutual ownership could allow for new funding streams to be accessed.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 19

 Crime and policing
Whilst incidents of many forms of crime, including violent crimes, fell under Ken Livingstone
the fear of crime remained high. This is important, because the perception of crime and the
fear generated can be damaging to community relations. Whilst the new Mayor and As-
sembly will need to tackle crime and disorder itself, which has increased under the current
Mayor, they will also need to ensure that people feel safe in their communities.
The Co-operative Party believes we should look to co-operative community initiatives to re-
duce the crime and the fear of crime by bringing people together and forging links between
different groups.
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) have been effective at making the
reduction of crime a key priority in local authorities and communicating the community’s
interests to the police. The partnerships, which are an unsung success from the Labour gov-
ernment, engage communities and can make a real difference to how the public feel about
crime in their area. The Mayor and Assembly should encourage the development of these
partnerships and help to raise awareness about them through the Metropolitan Police.
• The Mayor should work hard to protect the budget of the Metropolitan Police from na-
tional government spending cuts and to ensure that spending on community projects and
outreach projects are not disproportionately cut.

20 The London Co-operative Party

Ethical London
Revolutionising how we live and work to reflect our values.
The Co-operative Party believes that the Mayor and Assembly should provide inspirational
leadership, in London and elsewhere, for a revolution in sustainable and ethical living. This
is particularly important given the huge rift in lifestyles between the wealthy and deprived
within the capital. Much of inner London is in the top decile of the Index of Multiple Dep-
rivation, with very little purchasing power to consume, yet in the same area city firms rank
among the most carbon intensive businesses in the UK. City salaries are driving massive
consumption and waste as well as the social problems posed by inequality. The Co-operative
Party believes more should be done to decarbonise the city of London, reduce consumption
and to address inequalities.
Reducing food miles and encouraging greater food production in London is not only the right
thing to do, but can also help Londoners to save at a time that individual’s budgets are hard
pressed. The same is true of food waste, which must be put to better use.
The current Mayor has given warm words to initiatives to change the consumption pat-
terns of people and businesses, but real pressure is needed if we are to have revolutionary
change. Boroughs and businesses must be held to account for consumption choices, wheth-
er on fair trade, energy or recycling. Ken Livingstone drove real action on improving London’s
environment, we must return to practical solutions, rather than hot air.
The Co-operative Party and co-operative movement are ethically driven. Our values of self-
help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity are values that should
be central to London’s future. As 2012 is the UN’s International Year of Co-operatives, it is a
unique opportunity for the Mayor and Assembly promote a values driven approach to London
that reflects the values of our movement.

Our vision: London, as the world’s first ‘Co-operative City’, is

made to emulate the values of our movement. Green spaces
are democratised and unethical consumption and waste are ad-
dressed. The Mayor embeds Fairtrade initiatives into his areas of
responsibility and Assembly members actively promote Fairtrade
in all boroughs.

Embedding Fairtrade
London should be proud to be the world’s largest Fairtrade city, but much more could be done
to ensure that all the boroughs participate in this crucial initiative that has long been inter-
twined with the co-operative movement. The Mayor and GLA should show real leadership to
ensure decent prices and working conditions for farmers and workers in the developing world.
The Co-operative Party is pleased that London is a ‘Fairtrade City’, but just as with our pro-
posal for London to be a ‘Co-operative City’ we think that the name should be a tool for ac-
tion, rather than an end in itself. The Mayor should be doing more to embed Fairtrade and set
an example with City Hall.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 21

 • The Mayor and Assembly members should commit to become Fairtrade Ambassadors for
London internationally and within the boroughs. Each Assembly Member should commit
to leading the borough(s) for which they are responsible to become a Fairtrade Borough.
• The Mayor and Assembly should use City Hall Fairtrade projects and procurement to
encourage a greater emphasis on worker ownership of production and supply chains. This
allows primary producers to gain an increasing share of the profits of their enterprise. The
Co-operative Party believes this should be the future strategic direction for the Fairtrade
movement.
• The Olympics are a fantastic opportunity to showcase London as a Fairtrade city. The
Mayor should use his position to pressure delivery authorities and London more widely to
commit to using Fairtrade produce during the games and beyond.
• The Mayor should commit that all future major London sporting events, such as the 2015
Rugby World Cup, will be Fairtrade events. The Mayor should pressure other major world
cities to make similar commitments.
• The Mayor should use the stature of the office to champion national policies that would
benefit the Fairtrade movement. The Mayor should call on the government to remove VAT
for Fairtrade products and press for the scrapping of EU tariffs on fairly traded goods.

Transforming London’s Consumption and Waste

London’s economy is often energy intensive. Research has shown that the businesses re-
sponsible for the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions are often in financial services.
As the price of oil and other fossil fuel intensive forms of energy remains volatile, this is bad
for business as well as for the environment. London should seek to decarbonise its econo-
my: to save money and tackle global warming.
• The Mayor should make it a priority for the next term to decarbonise London’s financial
services. This should be achieved through increasing the use of renewable energy, but
also by naming and shaming businesses that waste significant amounts of energy. The
Mayor could publish a ‘Carbon List’ on the GLA website, detailing the most carbon inten-
sive businesses.
Food consumption and waste is also an issue for which the co-operative ethos can be har-
nessed to improve London. Ken Livingstone took sustainable food seriously as Mayor, he
established the London Food Board and the Food Strategy Unit at the London Development
Agency, as well as publishing the first (and only) London Food Strategy. The current Mayor
has not produced his own food strategy for London and with the scrapping of the London
Development Agency it is not clear how much resource will go to strategically planning for
sustainable food use in London.
• The Mayor should commit to promote more sustainable and ethical consumption of food.
The new Mayor should produce a new food strategy for London during the term and
should ensure that there is adequate resource in City Hall to give strategic direction to
sustainable food consumption in London.
• To increase transparency, the Mayor should fund an online ‘Sustainability Map’ for Lon-
don that rates the borough authorities against one another on the use of Fairtrade pro-
duce, space for community food production, ‘food miles’ for the authority, recycling and
other suitable metrics.

22 The London Co-operative Party

• The Mayor should commit to reform the procurement standards for those organisations
that fall under his responsibility such as the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and
the London Fire Service. GLA funded organisations should sign up to ‘food sustainability
contracts’ to increase the use of Fairtrade, low carbon and sustainable produce (such as
sustainably caught or farmed fish).
• London should lead on cutting food waste and making best use of waste. The Mayor
should commit to cutting City Hall’s food waste and supporting ‘community compost’
schemes.
• The Mayor should commit to partnering with existing charities focused on food afford-
ability and the waste of food to encourage borough by borough reductions in waste. The
Mayor should commit to support social enterprises and co-operatives in the capital that
seek to redistribute food that would be wasted to vulnerable groups such as the home-
less.
• The Mayor and Assembly should support community food enterprises such as food co-
operatives, community owned shops and farmers’ markets in London by partnering with
boroughs and charities to provide affordable business support and promote these busi-
nesses to their communities.
• The Mayor should raise awareness about the collapse in pollinator species, such as bees,
and support current campaigns to address the problem. The Co-operative Group’s ‘Plan
Bee’ campaign includes a commitment to support urban bee keeping in London, the
Mayor should highlight the work of this campaign in preserving pollinator populations.

Community Green Spaces

London is fortunate to have extensive green spaces in proportion to the size and population
of the city. Royal Parks, the ‘green belt’ and allotments are all part of London’s diverse en-
vironment. The Co-operative Party would like to see London’s green spaces become more
accountable to Londoners and used more effectively to reduce food miles and waste.
Responsibility for the Royal Parks is moving to the Mayor, from the Department of Culture,
Media and Sport. Whilst the government announced that this would make the Royal Parks
much more directly accountable to Londoners, the new Royal Parks board will be appointed
by the Mayor rather than Londoners themselves.
Londoners should be trusted to have real responsibility and ownership of their parks.
• The Royal Parks should be preserved as community green spaces for Londoners. Any
reform of the ownership or management of the Parks should be accompanied by appro-
priate locks on the land, so that the Parks cannot be developed in ways that do not align
with their community purpose.
• The Mayor should commit to explore the creation of a Royal Parks’ mutual which would
have open membership and a democratic board, as well as ownership of the land. This
would only be set up with appropriate locks on the use of the land.
Community allotments can help people to reduce their food bills and gain new skills.
• The Mayor should encourage the development of co-operative allotments on suitable, un-
used land. The land should be locked into permanent use for the community through the
use of community land trusts with ‘community benefit society’ status.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 23

 UN International Year of Co-operatives
2012 is the United Nation’s International Year of Co-operatives. The UN has resolved to
encourage all member countries to use 2012 to ‘promote cooperatives and raise awareness
of their contribution to social and economic development and promote the formation and
growth of cooperatives’. The Co-operative Group has resolved to invest £1 million to cel-
ebrate and promote this UN initiative.
• The Mayor and GLA should partner with the co-operative movement to promote and cel-
ebrate co-operatives as a priority through 2012.
• London should become the world’s first ‘Co-operative City’ in 2012. The Co-operative
Party, Mayor and Assembly would draw up a charter of values for London which could be
used to promote co-operative development. The Co-operative City status should be used
as a tool to promote economic development, job creation and ethical business.
• To show real commitment in 2012 to co-operatives as an opportunity for economic devel-
opment and regeneration, the Mayor should commit to setting up a ‘Co-operative Devel-
opment Centre’ modelled on the existing centre in Wales (see page 7).

24 The London Co-operative Party

Sustainable Infrastructure
Creating accessible, green and integrated energy and transport
Transport and energy must be at the centre of any vision for a better London. Our shared
infrastructure is often prohibitively expensive, crowded and ill-equipped for the projected
impacts of climate change. The Co-operative Party believes more should be done to reduce
the carbon intensity of our infrastructure, whether it is through the promotion of renewable
energy or through energy efficiency.
Our city’s rapid population growth and changing climate will only intensify the need to reform
our infrastructure. This is not just an issue of environmental responsibility, but also of fair-
ness. Access to reliable and cheap transport and affordable electricity and gas is of critical
importance to many Londoners. Around 10% of London households are classed as fuel poor
and once London’s proportionately higher housing costs are included, this rises to 24%. The
problem will only be compounded by energy companies’ recent above inflation price hikes.
In addition, above inflation hikes to transport fares are creating a cost of living crisis for many
Londoners. The current Mayor has done little to keep this under control, preferring to grand-
stand with signature – but ultimately ineffective – transport schemes. Single bus fares have
gone up by 44% since the current Mayor took office.
The Co-operative Party believes that by coming together, consumers can fight for a
better deal and protect the most vulnerable. Energy and transport co-operatives offer a
way to pool collective buying power and can be linked to energy efficiency and renew-
able energy schemes. Co-operatives models and principles offer a sustainable future for
London’s infrastructure.

Our Vision: London takes full advantage of the consumer energy

co-op movement, making energy more affordable and reducing
consumption. London’s transport and communications infra-
structure is accountable to its users and accessible to those on
lower incomes.

Collective Power
The Co-operative Party has developed a model to revolutionise consumer energy. The model
brings together solutions to fuel poverty, energy insecurity and climate change, which are
often seen as conflicting problems. Indeed, evidence from other countries – such as Den-
mark, Norway and Sweden – suggests that bringing together individuals and businesses into
energy co-operatives is the most effective way to address these issues.
Collective power models involve residents joining with their local schools, community institu-
tions and businesses to form a consumer co-operative which collectively purchases gas and
electricity wholesale from the energy markets. Banding together enables the co-operative
to secure lower prices, through collective purchasing power. This is an effective and practical
way to combat the cost of living crisis for Londoners brought on by increasing energy prices
and stagnant wages.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 25

 • The Mayor should champion energy co-operatives as an innovative way to reduce the cost
of living for Londoners and commit to reduce London’s carbon dependent energy use
through collective power models. This could involve:
- A forum on the London.gov.uk website to share best practice for consumer energy co-ops
and get advice on setting them up.
- ‘Cost of living crisis’ workshops in each London borough with experts on collective power.
- Partner with organisations and charities that encourage energy saving to provide practical
help and funding to those who wish to set up consumer energy co-operatives.
- Partner with existing energy co-operatives to encourage their development in London and
encourage them to support new energy co-ops in London.
- Commit to the Olympic legacy homes being a large scale London pilot as a consumer and
producer energy co-operative.
New energy co-operatives will require business support, community engagement and legal
support.
• The Mayor and Assembly should use some of the assets and resources from the London
Development Agency, which is being wound down and incorporated into the GLA, to set
up a ‘London Co-operative Centre’, modelled on the Welsh Co-operative Centre (see p. 7).
The Centre should include a ‘community energy unit’ which would:
- Act as a delivery agent to join up the various London interests on community energy and
climate change
- Actively engage with existing expertise on local level renewable energy and climate
change solutions
- Provide a support hub for the development of collective energy schemes; including legal
and financial advice.
- Develop model constitutions that could be used by community energy projects.
Collective power can be revolutionary for London’s consumer energy market. Its potential
goes beyond this though – energy co-operatives can also drive necessary improvements to
the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses. This is both good for the budgets of hard
pressed Londoners, but also sustainable. The installation of smart meters has been found to
reduce energy use by up to a quarter, whilst there is enormous scope for improving retrofit-
ting insulation. The previous Mayor set a target of 200,000 homes (6%) to be better insu-
lated, but only managed a quarter of that. Energy co-operatives could drive real change.
• The Mayor and Assembly should partner consumer energy co-operatives with private
investors or low carbon charities to buy smart meters and home insulation for their mem-
bers. This can be either as a grant or as a loan paid back by the co-operative through the
energy efficiency savings made by its members. The Mayor could consider the use of
GLA funding to do this for pilot energy co-operatives, in order to demonstrate the effec-
tiveness of the scheme.
• The Mayor and Assembly should provide subsidy for consumer energy co-operatives
to develop renewable energy production, for example through a partnership with solar
energy co-operatives. This subsidy could be in the form of a loan paid back over time from
cost savings or contributions to the grid.

26 The London Co-operative Party

Community Transport
The Co-operative Party believes that transport should be accessible, affordable and accountable.
The best way to ensure people-centred transport provision is to encourage local authorities or
community groups to pool resources.
Hackney Community Transport (HCT) is an excellent example of a community transport company.
HCT re-invests surpluses into transport provision to ensure that services remain affordable for
everyone in the community. This sort of community transport can help to improve the mobility of
Londoners for whom current transport provision is less accessible.
• The Mayor and Assembly should work with local authorities, social enterprises and others to
build London’s provision of affordable community transport. The Mayor and Assembly should
encourage authorities and social enterprises to look into community vehicle pools that could
provide social care, health and education transport. The Mayor should look at ways of support-
ing community transport schemes to provide forms of transport not easily accessible to those
on low incomes, including minicab, bus and minibus services.
Transport for London (TfL) is an important part of the Mayor and Assembly’s responsibilities. Whilst
TfL is a world-leading integrated transport system there may still be room for greater accountabil-
ity to Londoners, who expect the highest quality of transport provision. Many Londoners have felt
powerless, for example, in the face of above inflation bus fare rises.
• The Mayor’s London Transport Strategy should include a vision for how TfL can be made as
accountable as possible to Londoners and for how the corporate governance of TfL could be
improved with co-operative principles – the current Mayor did not fully explore accountability in
his Transport Strategy.
• The Mayor should task TfL with setting up a mutual electric car pool to complement the intro-
duction of car charging points by 2015. The car pool would be owned and managed by members
(with an elected member board) and surpluses would be put back into the scheme to improve
affordability.
A recent addition to London’s varied forms of transport has been the central London ‘pedicabs’,
which are mostly located in the West End. Pedicabs are often unlicensed and uninsured, a situ-
ation that puts Londoners and tourists at unnecessary risk. Some companies do promote much
higher standards, but there is no requirement. Co-operative pedicab companies could allow drivers
to have a real say in the running of companies, pool insurance and would be easier to regulate.
• The Mayor should press for legislative changes that would incentivise co-operative pedicab
companies and champion such companies.
• The Mayor should commit to there being general regulation of pedicabs to ensure good safety
standards and decent insurance by the end of the Mayoral term.

A Co-operative Agenda for London 27

 Integrated Infrastructure
Beyond transport and energy, co-operative principles can be used to develop London’s spatial
planning, ICT infrastructure and to ensure that a future smart city approach is community-led.
• The Community Infrastructure Levy will be the main source of funding from new devel-
opments to local authorities. The Mayor should should promote co-operative solutions to
how the Levy is delivered.
• Access to broadband can foster economic development and social integration. It is also
vital if we are to reduce pressures on transport through home-working. The Mayor should
commit that every Londoner should have access to affordable, fast broadband by the end
of the next term. To achieve this, the Mayor should work with boroughs to support and de-
velop consumer mutuals – such as the ‘Phone Co-op’ – which keep prices low by invest-
ing surpluses in improving services.
• The Co-operative Party supports the development of an integrated ‘smart city’ approach
that tackles waste and promotes efficiency. We believe that the Mayor should champion a
‘Co-operative Smart City’ bringing together the principles of co-operation with the princi-
ples of the smart city approach. This would ensure that communities lead on the develop-
ment of more integration, for instance through consumer energy mutuals providing smart
meters for all of their members.

28 The London Co-operative Party

The Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is the political arm of the co-operative movement. Nationally, we have more
than 9,000 members.
Our party was established in 1917 and has been a sister party of the Labour Party since 1927.
We believe that people achieve more by working together than they can by working alone. We sup-
port the efforts of those who seek success through that co-operative endeavour.
We believe that the only way to create a just and fair society is through power being spread evenly
throughout society, and not arbitrarily based on wealth, class, gender or race.
We work to promote co-operatives and all forms of mutual organisation.
We work with the Labour Party in the UK to influence its policies towards more co-operative solu-
tions. There are 29 Labour and Co-operative members in the House of Commons, 15 in the House
of Lords, 5 MSPs, 9 Members of the Welsh Assembly, 7 Members of the Greater London Assem-
bly and hundreds of local councillors.
To contact or to join the Co-operative Party in London, write to:
The Co-operative Party
77 Weston Street
London SE1 3SD
telephone 020 7367 4150
email [email protected]
www.party.coop
twitter @CoopParty

A Co-operative Agenda for London 29

 This is the manifesto of the London Co-operative Party.
It has been produced following consultation with London Co-operative Party members at a
series of workshops in August 2011 and through an online consultation.
The Co-operative Party would like to thank all those who took part in the workshops and
contributed their ideas online. We would especially like to thank:
David Rodgers (CDS Co-operatives); Val Shawcross AM; James Hulme and Alison Scowen
(Co-operative Group); Murad Qureshi AM; Melanie Smallman (SERA); Malcolm Clark (Fair-
trade London); John Biggs AM; Jo White (Co-operative Futures); Derek Buckland (Co-oper-
ative Group South East); Abbie Shelton (ABCUL); Cllr Florence Nosegbe (GLA candidate);
Clive Fraser (London Co-operative Party) and Jane Cameron (CDS Co-operatives).

30 The London Co-operative Party

A Co-operative Agenda for London 31
the co-operative party
politics for people

Published by
The London Co-operative Party
77 Weston Street, London SE1 3SD
The Co-operative Party Limited.
Registered in England as an Industrial and Provident Society under the
Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965. Registered no. 30027R.