Local Government Minister Jim McMahon has announced a new £10 million regional Co-operative Development Programme designed to help mayors and strategic authorities establish more businesses owned and run by workers, customers and local communities.
The programme forms part of a wider £210 million package to revive struggling high streets and town centres across England, announced by the Government on 25 September.
McMahon said:
“Delighted to bring forward a new £10 million regional Co-operative Development Programme to help mayors and strategic authorities set up more co-operative businesses, owned and run by the staff, customers and communities who use them, so local people share directly in their success.”
£10m for co-operative businesses
The Government says the new fund will be split across mayoral and strategic authorities, supporting the creation and growth of co-operatives that can keep more wealth rooted locally.
The aim is to help workers, customers and communities take a direct stake in businesses that serve their neighbourhoods, particularly in areas where town centres have suffered from closures and declining footfall.
The programme is one part of a broader £20 million allocation, with the other £10 million going towards High Street Rental Auctions designed to bring properties that have been empty for 12 months or more back into use.
£125m to transform derelict buildings
The largest part of the package is a new £125 million Derelict Buildings Fund.
Local authorities will be able to use the money to transform empty shopping centres, disused cinemas and other vacant buildings into facilities such as health centres, shared workspaces, cafés and civic or community spaces.
A further £65 million will support communities seeking to rescue and refurbish valued local assets at risk of closure, including pubs, sports clubs and other community buildings.
Burnham: people judge growth by their high streets
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said regeneration needed to be visible in people’s everyday surroundings rather than measured only through national economic statistics.
He said:
“People don’t measure growth by looking at a spreadsheet. They measure it by looking at their local high street.”
Burnham said the funding was intended to put more power in the hands of local people who understand what their towns and neighbourhoods need.
Rayner says local communities should shape regeneration
Housing and Communities Secretary Angela Rayner said the programme would give communities more influence over how vacant buildings and struggling local assets are brought back into use.
She said boarded-up buildings could become places that people were proud to visit again, while local businesses could grow and create jobs that keep more money circulating within their communities.
Co-operatives placed at heart of local growth
McMahon’s announcement gives co-operative ownership a specific role within the Government’s high street strategy.
Rather than relying only on conventional private investment or council-led development, the new programme is intended to help build businesses where ownership and decision-making are shared among those who work in them or depend on their services.
The Government says the wider package is part of its devolution agenda and will be followed later this year by a full high streets strategy for England.
For McMahon, the £10 million co-operative fund is intended to ensure that regeneration does not simply change buildings — it also changes who benefits from local economic success, giving workers and communities a more direct stake in the businesses on their high streets.
