For too long, the laws that apply to co-operatives and community benefit societies (often described as ‘mutuals’) in the UK have remained largely unchanged, but the Law Commission’s recent review of the Cooperative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, which is due to report later this year, could mean that change is afoot.
Finally, policymakers are asking the right questions about whether businesses run for social good could bring wider benefits for communities and support the delivery of much-needed local services.
Whilst this is a legislative rather than fiscal matter, we hope that Rachel Reeves underlines the Government’s commitment to empowering social businesses. Concrete steps must now be taken to deliver on the Government’s pledge to ‘double the size of the co-operative and mutuals sector’ by supporting diverse business models and addressing barriers such as access to finance.
Other measures that social businesses would like to see included:
- Funding support for taking forward the new community right to buy, which was introduced as part of the Devolution White Paper
- Support for charities and social businesses to assist with the rise in Employer NICs, which takes effect in April