Members meeting: Co-op Law Reform

The UK government recently announced it was taking forward crucial legislation giving co-operative societies the option of legally guaranteeing that their assets are held in common.

This is a huge policy win for the co-operative sector. Sir Mark Hendrick, Labour and Co-operative MP, included this provision in his Private Members’ Bill which had a Second Reading in Parliament on 28 October. In a rare move, the government decided to take forward an element of Sir Mark’s Bill and adopt it as government legislation. The Bill will give co-operatives the option of legally guaranteeing that some or all of their assets are held in common and non-distributable among members. 

Co-operatives UK remains in close contact with HM Treasury on this. Our priority is to ensure that as government takes this Bill forward, the details address the real-world needs and aspirations of the sector.

We are holding an online meeting on Thursday 17 November, 12-1.30pm, for members who want to find out more and feed into the process. The next stage of the parliamentary process is the Commons Committee, where government and a small group of MPs will work on the detail of the Bill, with input from sector representatives.