ABCUL Calls on Party Leaders to Include Co-operative Sector Centre of Growth Plans

Wednesday 12 June 2024

The mutual and co-operative sector calls on party leaders to put co-operatives and mutuals at the centre of their plans for growth.

The Chief Executives of mutual trade bodies, including ABCUL, Co-operatives UK, The Association of Financial Mutuals and the Building Societies Association, have written to the main party leaders, calling for a meaningful covenant between mutuals and co-operatives, Government and society, based on the purpose-driven business model that delivers tangible benefits to our communities and wider society.

“ABCUL is pleased to collaborate with our fellow co-operative advocates to promote our vested interests to be prioritised by the next Government,” says ABCUL CEO, Robert Kelly. “The sector in Great Britain continues to report on unprecedented growth, with Bank of England data recording the largest rise in membership seen since 2017. This indicates that people need our sector as an alternative to high-cost credit more than ever.”

Specifically, the letter calls for the next Government to commit to:

• Appointing a Minister for Mutuals & Co-operatives

• Establishing a British Business Bank fund for to new and existing mutuals and co-operatives

• Reviewing the case for mutualising the Post Office

• Delivering the recommendations of the Law Commission reviews

This builds on the work that the sector has already done in preparing a joint Prospectus which outlines the asks in further details and a series of policy roundtables which have taken place across the UK over the last 12 months.