The dismantled society - do we know where we are going?

We have been bombarded for some little time now by the views from politicians of a certain variety on the nature of society. These range across a spectrum from ‘Is there such a thing as society?’ to the ‘broken society’, to the ‘big society’ and to what one satirical magazine referred to recently as ‘the bugger off society’. Whatever, our personal views we certainly seem to be in a troubled place with little national direction from the Coalition Government on the nature of social cohesion and the sort of unifying community structures and processes we might all seek to work together to achieve.

There has been much vague talk about co-operatives and co-operative solutions from Coalition Government leaders and the John Lewis model has been much trawled. I fear that this sudden conversion to co-operation, as welcome as it is to me and my fellow co-operators, is hollow stuff and built on foundations of sand. History tells us that opposition to the co-operative business model is built into the genes of many of our business leaders and those politicians who support them. We in the broader Co-operative Movement must also be careful that we are not, yet again, being asked to apply the co-operative business model to failed and failing businesses and service delivery areas whose leaders care not one jot for Co-operative Values & Principles which are the core beliefs of all true co-operators.

There is at present so much visible unhappiness around us and measurable fear amongst those I come into contact with on a daily business that 2011 will become the year of the dismantled society. The Coalition Government machine has wrapped a cloak around the abnormal and like Merlin the magician has transformed it into the new normal. Local government colleagues tell me that planning meetings have now become macabre contests to see who can cut the furthest and hardest on precious public services.

The recent student protests were at one and the same time deeply disturbing and yet encouraging. They were disturbing because I fear that protests will breed more protests and that we will slide rapidly into a culture of protest as faith in our politicians  and our democratic process ebbs away in front of us. The mantra has been chanted that cuts will be to the bone because that is what we need and Coalition Government politicians will now see little point in breaking ranks and offering real co-operative solutions to help build a ‘Big Society’. The battle lines have been drawn and we are marching to a dismantled society with cuts of a pace and scale never attempted before.

I am encouraged because the young are engaging with the problems in their own particular way. They are the product of enlightened Citizenship and Government & Politics teaching in our schools and they feel a sense of overwhelming social responsibility to act on behalf of all of us. They understand that the Coalition Government has embarked on a vast and untried social experiment where the only aim that seems to matter is economic gain.

So what price co-operative solutions? Well I guess that the ‘Big Society’ was always going to be a back of a fag packet job with no clear blue print and no clear understanding of what was needed and what is achievable. Supporting our people with co-operative solutions will then be left to those of us in the broader Co-operative Movement to try to come up with piece meal solutions on a community by community needs basis, responding to neglect and despair in an ad hoc and under resourced fashion. Of course we will do it because we care deeply for our people but watch out for those slick politicians and business leaders who seek to make much of our failures – we have been there before.

In the meantime I am left with the nagging doubt about what exactly Robert Owen would have made of all of this and where would he have seen the need to apply our collective energies to create the co-operative difference. Perhaps poverty in its most general sense would have been his focus?

In the next President’s Blog I would like to engage with co-operators on the eight Millennium Declaration goals agreed by every member state of the UN in 2000 with a delivery date of 2015 on issues such as poverty, education, health and access to technology. Your thoughts please in the best spirit of co-operation.

Good luck.

Together in co-operation.

Chris Morgan.

Land Value Taxation

I am delighted that Chris has opened up this particular debate as it homes in on an issue close to my heart, and one which could have significant benefits in Herefordshire (and elsewhere) in opening up multiple opportunities for sustainable activities with considerable community and environmental value. At a time when we face serious cuts to jobs and public services (Why are we allowing ourselves to be conned into accepting these, especially as over £100 billion is lost to us through tax evasion, avoidance and offshore tax arrangements, which could easily cover the shortfall?) there is a desperate need for affordable housing, and Cameron talks of the 'Big Society' and devolving power (heard that somewhere before?), surely the time has come to look at radical measures. This is one that needs to become mainstream and supported by us all.

The Green Party has had a policy on Land Value Taxation for many years, formerly called Community Ground Rent. It is based on our understanding that land is the primary source of all wealth, it is our common heritage and should be held in trust for future generations and other species. We believe it should not be treated as a capital investment or traded for speculative profit: this has been the source of its exploitation and degradation over time.

No-one should have absolute control over land, only particular rights over use, and these should be controlled by the community through planning regulations. A clear framework is needed which puts a priority on the natural environment, encouraging sustainable use and discouraging unsustainable exploitation. The tax would be payable on annual value of land, not buildings, development or minerals. It would be levied locally and based on current permitted use, so if use is limited because of amenity or habitat value, then tax would be reduced.

Unearned benefits should be shared with the community and this can be done through Land Value Taxation, which should not be on top of other revenue raising measures but replace some of them.

Some of the many advantages of this system are: benefits for the majority, rather than a minority; offers incentives towards good stewardship; reduces corporate ownership; contributes to a decentralised, sustainable society; eliminates speculation and stabilises prices; more and cheaper land would become available, offering opportunities for community initiatives such as housing trusts, worker co-operatives, community supported agriculture schemes and other small scale enterprise.

The full policy can be found on the Green Party website here: Green Party Policy - Land

Felicity Norman

A Co-operative Approach

Well our first President's Blog certainly caused interest and provoked much telephone and email traffic which was all positive. This was really heartening to us but to a person no one was willing for their views and responses to be added to the Blog. I understand this because for many of us, particularly my generation, presenting yourself and your values and ideas to an unseen and potentially limitless number of readers can be quite a threatening experience. Not a bit like standing in front of a class of young people or students where you have a visible audience and where you can assess the impact of every word. So please be brave and seize the opportunity to either respond to ideas in the Blog or contribute to the Blog on matters that interest you and are relevant to potential co-operative solutions for the effective delivery of education, training and social regeneration. Don't be afraid to think outside the box.

I suspect that once we are into the October Spending Review and all that this will mean it will be suggested to us by the Coalition Government that the solutions and responses must be local ones. This after all will be consistent with the concept of David Cameron's Big Society and it will present us with an opportunity to be both innovative and creative. There will be no prizes for signing up for the victim culture and, candidly, it will test our belief in the power of co-operative structures and co-operative values and principles to deliver the goods. The jury is out on how prepared local authorities will be to lead and co-ordinate the construction of the local response to the Big Society. It will take a cultural shift in the attitude and behaviour of many local authority officers and elected members who have been steeped for a long time in a command style of management. We shall see and certainly within the Robert Owen Group we welcome working closely with local authorities in a genuinely co-operative approach to supporting Our People and Our Communities.

On 10th, 11th and 12th September I was invited by the South West Region of the Co-operative Group to be a delegate to the Co-operative Party Conference in Cardiff. This was a first for me and I adopted a very much watch and see approach as a procession of former Government Ministers spoke to the Conference. Without sharing my prejudices suffice it to say that I was really impressed with Harriet Harman and what she had to say in a clear and unequivocal fashion. The discussions were intense on the floor of Conference and in the fringe meetings. Probably the one debate that caught my eye was the Fringe Meeting on Land Value Tax (LVT). Recent articles by respected commentators such as Polly Toynbee, Larry Elliot, Ashley Seager, Sir Samuel Brittan and Martin Wolf on radical land and taxation reform were quoted. Delegates were clear that if we aspire to create a more just and socially inclusive society in which the burden of taxation and poverty no longer falls on the poorest, then Land Value Tax is an idea whose time must surely have come. I was interested to note that the Co-operative Party and the Green Party are the only UK parties to adopt this position so far. The ongoing global financial crisis and the search for more equitable housing policies with a responsible and publicly accountable banking system has moved LVT from the radical fringe to the mainstream of debate in the serious press - The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times and the Spectator with endorsement from Compass and some of the trade unions. If adopted LVT could make a real contribution to the local delivery of the Big Society. "It is the taking by the community, for the community, of the value that is the creation of the community." - Henry George, Progress & Poverty, 1879.

My thoughts on the way home on the train from Conference turned to 2012 and the United Nations Year of the Co-operative. Within the Robert Owen Group we will have to give much thought to our collective contribution and I am sure that our schools and our teachers will want to be involved in the activities. The President's Committee at the first meeting of the new academic year on 30th September will start the planning process but what an ideal opportunity to target projects and events so that they show how the Big Society can be delivered in co-operative ways. Kofi Annan gives us a perfect steer:

"The co-operative movement is one of the largest organised segments of civil society, and plays a crucial role across a wide spectrum of human aspiration and need. Co-operatives provide vital health, housing and banking services; they promote education and gender equality; they protect the environment and workers' rights. Through these and a range of other activities, they help people in more than a hundred countries better their lives and those in their communities." - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Of course our daily task within the Robert Owen Group, whilst being mindful of the big international co-operative picture, is to make sure that our operational delivery is truly co-operative and effective. In the last two weeks I have been encouraged by staff reports on the enthusiasm and quality of our newly enrolled trainee teachers who have signed up to "share the benefits of teacher training with a co-operative difference." Our Vision & Service Delivery Plan 2010-2011 and our Annual Report 2009-2010 are now out in the public domain as one high quality and impressive document. The new extensions to our Robert Owen Centre for Higher Education on the Bromyard site are nearly completed, the Robert Owen Foundation has been formed as a registered charity to lead the Group and our extremely able staff have been joined by some new faces to replace colleagues who have recently retired and to strengthen our staff team. There are exciting proposals for the President's Committee to consider on 30th September and the future looks co-operative.

Chris Morgan

President of the Robert Owen Group



The First President's Blog

We are well used to firsts in the Robert Owen Group and occupying that lonely position out in front where you think you have read the future and then you suddenly find that actually the challenge in life is shaping your own sense of reality and then making it happen. Well the Robert Owen Group’s President’s Blog is a first and we hope that it will come to be seen as a welcome addition to our website and the service we seek to offer to our members, our fellow co-operators and our friends. We welcome contributions to the Blog so please feel free to email at admin@robertowen.org – all contributions are most welcome.

The Robert Owen Group was first formed from small beginnings by the Herefordshire high school head teachers and college principals in January 1993. The Hereford & Worcester TVEI Project was drawing to a close and our early pioneers believed that they could see the future for education and training provision in rural areas and firmly believed that working in co-operation was the route to survival. Here in 2010 the challenges are certainly no less and ironically the co-operative solution seems to have a much wider acceptance although I do wonder if our new enthusiasts really appreciate what a co-operative really is.

 The UK co-operative statistics are certainly encouraging and Co-operatives UK tell us that their analysis shows that there are over 4,990 independent co-operatives in the UK owned by more than 12.9 million members. Apparently the numbers keep on growing where these organisations are owned by their members to meet the common needs. In all parts of our economy from healthcare to housing, farms to football clubs, credit unions to convenience stores, schools to community groups, they share membership, have equal say, make democratic decisions and create value for members.

So what should characterise a co-operative? Well for a start they:

• Must be owned by members
• Must exist to serve their members – whether they are the customers, the employees or the local community
• Must ensure that members have an equal say in what the co-operative does – membership must help shape the decisions their co-operative makes
• Must share their profits among members.

As fundamental as these four key characteristics are it goes much deeper than this for new co-operatives must recognise the rich history that the co-operative sector has of driving change for the benefit of all. From the eight hour working day in 1901 to the minimum wage in 1907 to the early plans for the National Health Service in 1929 the list of progressive changes are endless. So whilst we recognise that the spectrum for co-operation is wide, it is the re-engagement of our people with these four fundamental principles set in the context of the Movement’s history which we believe offers the greatest opportunity to re-generate both our society and our economy.

There is little doubt that we live in a world full of challenges – both local and global. In the UK we are fearful for the future of public service delivery and the impact of the now regularly trailed cuts on our vulnerable brothers and sisters. It is clearly difficult for community members to understand if our political leaders are referring to cuts arising from policies of the last New Labour Administration or cuts that will fall out from the Coalition Government’s October spending review. Sometimes the more cynical say that this confusion is deliberate so that the worst when it comes is perhaps not quite as bad as we were told. Who knows but clearly by Christmas we will know the worst and we will be fighting to preserve schools, community services and a sense of future for our young people.

Back to trying to shape our sense of co-operative reality and making it happen. Well we can say with certainty that:

• Co-operation is good for business and can help to avoid the 80% failure rate of businesses to grow and create value
• Co-operation is good for individuals as it reduces the human tendency to interpret others as threatening
• Co-operation is good for society as it encourages us to engage with others in a way that we can meet our own needs and theirs.

In the Robert Owen Group we believe with a passion that we can deliver our mission to work with communities to contribute to a more responsible, equitable and informed society if we work within co-operative structures whilst following co-operative values and principles. Without doubt the going will be tough and it is my view that we face a decade of hard work to preserve our communities and the livelihoods of our people. Within all of this schools have a key role to play as community hubs where the education of immature human beings is but a part. In undertaking this new role it is important that teachers, parents and governing bodies see themselves as agents of change.

As public services come under pressure from growing demand and diminished resourcing the co-operative approach offers the “Third Way” but not in any exclusive sense but working in partnership with local authorities and other community groups to keep the needs of our people to the forefront of our thinking. Out of chaos may appear sensible changes to the way we work with each other. For me the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about but it will depend on us all seeing ourselves as active agents for co-operative change rather than passive recipients of doom, gloom and a diminishing quality of life .

“Co-operation is as vital an ingredient in economic development as ‘survival of the fittest’ individualism” – Eric Beinhocker, The Origin of Wealth, 2006.

Chris Morgan
President of the Robert Owen Group

Welcome to our new blog!

We will be uploading our first post at the start of term in September, so watch this space...