childcare

In the context of the UK Coalition Government’s policies to promote public service mutuals, Time to get serious: international lessons for developing public service mutuals examines the experience in Spain, Italy and Sweden. It identifies some key factors for success, learning lessons and questions that are relevant for the development of new co-operative models in the UK.

Guidance for creating a childcare co-operative, produced by a Co-operatives UK project in 2006.

An introduction to a Co-operatives UK project run in 2006, including case studies of Childcare Co-operatives.

Giving people power over public services.

This paper from the Cabinet Office puts forward plans for:

• new and improved opportunities for tenants to manage their own homes and housing services;
• the opportunity for local areas to pilot ways of running Children’s Centres as part of local mutual federations
• improving the sustainability of User-Led Organisations that exploring ways for communities to have a formal role in the governance of employee-led social enterprises that spin out of the traditional public sector.

The Conservatives have recently announced policies allowing local people to form community co-operatives to take over council services, and enabling public sector workers to form co-operatives to take over the services they deliver.

These policies are to be welcomed, particularly in one part of the public sector: namely, Children’s Centres.