Tamworth Borough Council transitions from Associate Member to Full Council Member following election success

Tamworth Borough Council is delighted to become a full member of the Cooperative Councils’ Innovation Network.  As a Labour & Cooperative Council, we are committed to putting cooperative values at the heart of our work – ensuring transparency, accountability, and community-led decision-making. 

Our Delivery Plan reflects this ambition, focusing on local wealth building, social value procurement, and empowering residents to shape the future of our town. Recent initiatives, such as community grants and partnerships with local organisations, demonstrate our determination to tackle inequality and strengthen civic pride. 

Being a full member is an important step in our journey to deliver innovative, inclusive solutions that celebrate Tamworth’s unique identity and create a fairer, more prosperous borough for everyone.

Scaling Cooperative Housing:

Last week, we partnered with the Confederation of Co-operative Housing to deliver a webinar on how councils can promote community-led housing projects. This included examining the challenges and opportunities these projects present in light of the government's commitment to deliver 1.5 million new homes by 2030.

The event built on the work our member councils are undertaking to deliver community-led housing, particularly the Community-Led Housing Commission. This was a member-led policy initiative exploring how local authorities could support community and cooperative-led housing developments to address the housing crisis.  

The commission was led by Croydon Council, read their full report can be read here.

Our time is now: Your evidence will help shape
Cooperatives UK’s response to the government

In the Autumn Statement, the Government announced a call for evidence into cooperative and non-financial mutual businesses support.  This is probably a once-in-a-generation opportunity to influence government support for the sector.  The Department for Business and Trade wants to hear from cooperatives and cooperators on how to support cooperative growth – and to understand what that growth could look like.  Cooperatives UK is pulling together a response to include insight from the CCIN into the specific barriers to co-op start-up, growth and mutualisation.

📄 Read CUK’s initial thoughts on the call for evidence and their Policy Plan for Growth
✏️ Complete their online survey to feed into their responseFor an invitation to the Roundtable, please get in touch with 

2026 Policy Lab funding timetable

Funding for the next round of Policy Projects has now been agreed.  EOC has allocated £60,000 to fund Policy Labs and £15,000 for Policy Prototypes in 2025/6. 

All funded projects must demonstrate the ‘cooperative difference’ and explicitly show this using our  Statement of Values and Principles. 

Policy Lab funding supports research, collaboration and implementation of cooperative initiatives that involve multiple Network members. This work is incredibly valuable for our members, allowing us to share best practices on a national footprint, collaborate with like-minded local authorities and partners, and work together to solve some of the complex problems facing local government and the communities we represent. 

Members will have up to two years to deliver a Policy Lab.  Applications will be considered for funding of up to £20,000, dependent on their scale and ambition. 

Policy Prototypes are smaller projects for members who want to deliver a project in their locality on behalf of the Network.  This funding is available to councils of all sizes, Opposition Groups and Minority Administrations. Members will have up to twelve months to deliver a Policy Prototype. Applications will be considered for funding of up to £2,000. 

Contact: Pete Vallance - hello@councils.coop 

£250 million in care profits – new report calls for radical change

Analysis from Co-operatives UK and its Reclaiming our Regional Economies (RORE) partners finds private companies running care services took more than £250m in profits from just three English regions over three years.

Private companies operating care services in just three regions of England have taken more than £250m in profits in three years.  A new report, Ending extraction in the UK care system, reveals how public money is being siphoned out of the care system rather than reinvested to improve services.

In 2024 alone, £3.8bn was spent by local authorities to fund care services in the North East, South Yorkshire and West Midlands combined authority regions. Yet not all of that investment is reaching those it is designed to support.

Between 2021 and 2024:

• £256m of profit was made by companies providing care services in these regions
• Over a third of those companies are owned by private equity firms or companies based in tax havens (or both)
• £45m was paid out in dividends to shareholders
• £33.6m was paid in interest, up to 60% of which went straight to private equity and tax haven owned companies

Directors of these companies earned up to 60 times more than the average wage, while frontline care workers were often paid below the living wage.

Cooperatives UK is an Affiliate Member of the Network

V&P Board Update - Policy Project Sponsors

Following the Policy Lab process Review led by Morgan Jones at Cheshire West & Chester, the Values & Principles Board (V&P) has identified Project Sponsors for each active Policy Lab Project. 

The Project Sponsor's role is to act as a bridge between the V&P Board and the Policy Lab Projects, ensuring that each project’s delivery and learning remain aligned with the CCIN’s cooperative values and principles. Sponsors provide light-touch guidance, observation, and reflection to help strengthen co-operative practice and learning emerging from each Project. 

Project & Project sponsor details:

We do still have one vacancy for an Associate Member on the Values & Principles Board.  If you are interested, don't hesitate to get in touch: hello@councils.coop

2026 Case Studies Pack 

-  CCIN Member Benefit - Get Involved

We’re now seeking submissions for the 2026 Case Studies Pack. 
The deadline for inclusion is noon Friday, 13 March 2026.  

We have produced a template to help you and all instructions are on our website  (Click this link) 

For the printed pack:

• Full Member Councils receive a double-page spread.  You can promote one case study (approximately 850 words plus an image) or two shorter case studies (approximately 400 words each plus an image).  
• Associate and Affiliate Members receive a single page to promote one case study.  Affiliate Members are asked to use the opportunity to promote an example of where they’ve worked with a Cooperative Council (approximately 400 words each plus an image). 

The Alternative Business Models Training Programme

Looking to broaden your understanding of how organisations can be owned, governed and sustained? The Alternative Business Models training programme explores innovative approaches to business and governance, helping you support organisations to choose structures that reflect their values and purpose. 

Whether private, mutual or charitable, every legal framework is shaped by three key questions: who owns the organisation, who benefits from its value, and who makes the decisions. This programme equips participants with the knowledge and confidence to navigate these questions and select the most appropriate model. 

Delivered by Stir to Action in partnership with Co-op Culture’s experienced advisors, the training focuses on alternative business models commonly used by co-operatives and community businesses. It also examines the wider support landscape and highlights how supporting alternative models differs from conventional business support. 

The programme includes three modules: a core introductory session and two optional deep dives. The core session provides a practical overview of alternative business models and how they operate in practice. The optional deep dives are designed for business development advisors who want to explore finance, governance and legal structures in more depth.

Session dates

 • 29 January (Introduction)

• 5 February (Governance & Legal Structures)

• 12 February (Finance)

Stir to Action is an Affiliate Member of the Network

Membership of Coop News

We’re proud to announce that the CCIN is now a member of Co-op News, the oldest cooperative newspaper in the world, published by Co-op Press and based in Manchester.   Established in 1871, Co-op News’ mission is to connect, champion, and challenge the global cooperative movement. 
 
Rebecca Harvey, Executive Editor at Coop News, sits on our Values & Principles Board as a sector representative.  We’ve been working with Rebecca’s team for several years. Their talented designer produces our core publications: the Case Studies Pack, Annual Review, and Members’ Pack. 
 
Membership gives us:

• The right to stand for elections
• A digital copy of the magazine to a central address to share with members
• A free print advert or 3-month advert on thenews.coop and discounts on future adverts and commercial services
• Access to additional printed copies of Co-op News for £35pa.

• 13 January - Officer Call - online.  For an invite email 

  Jonathan.Downs@oldham.gov.uk 

• 7-8 February - Labour Local Government Conference - Coventry

• 10-12 February - CCIN Annual Conference - online

• 12 February 2pm - CCIN AGM - online

• 26 February - Care Experience Workshop - Manchester

• 3 March - Care Experience Workshop - Plymouth

• 5 March - Care Experience Workshop - Birmingham