20th January: Transition Institute’s Weekly Roundup!

Happy Friday all!

Hope you have all avoided the January Blues this week! It’s been a busy week in the media with a lot of coverage about the benefits (and sometimes the pitfalls) of employee ownership, co-ops and socially responsible businesses. Thanks to speeches by Nick Clegg and David Cameron (in the Hub Westminster no less!), there has been debate and discussion across a broad range of news outlets. Regardless of the political nuances, the mere fact that these models of business have had such broad publicity is a great start to the year. It is after all, the International year of the Co-operative! The more these ideas are discussed, the more people will hear about alternative business models that aim to embed greater social value into their practices. We see it as an opportunity for progress.

Here are some of the key stories relating to public sector spin-outs, mutuals and co-operatives from the past week:

Monday 16^th:

• The speech which provoked a lot of (valuable) publicity and debate around the idea of employee ownership: Nick Clegg’s speech, “We need more individuals to have a real stake in their firms” from the BBC site. Read more…
• William Davies, academic director of The Centre for Mutual and Employee-Owned Business, University of Oxford writes for The Telegraph: John Lewis and a new vision for capitalism.
• Article by Dr Rory Ridley-Duff in the Guardian’s Social Enterprise Network: The co-operative advantage: a rich and varied contribution to social enterprise.
• New report by William Davies for the Employee Ownership Association: All of Our Business: Why Britain needs more private sector employee ownership. Worth a read.
• Great blog by Robert Ashton in Civil Society Finance: Public sector procurement: in between a rock and a hard place.
• Fiona Sheil from NCVO and Gemma Brown from TPP Law: TUPE needs better leadership and more effective sanctions in the Guardian’s Voluntary Sector Network.

Tuesday 17^th:

• David Floyd’s blog post, an analysis of The Big Society agenda thus far, is very insightful. Some interesting comments! Read more…
• Elke Loeffler, chief executive of Governance International, writes for the Guardian Public Leaders Network: Public service compact to revolutionise services .
• Neil McInroy, chief executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, writes for Newstart Magazine: Localism must be paired with fresh economic thinking if we’re to address inequality
• Chris White MP talks about the Public Service (Social Value) Bill in an interview with Third Sector. The Bill will receive its second reading in the House of Lords next week (the 27^th Jan).  Read more…

Wednesday 18^th:

• Jane Dudman on open data in the Guardian Public leader’s Network: Editor’s blog: open data approach divides public managers .
• Good piece by Jonathan Carr-West, director at the Local Government Information Unit, in the LSE Politics Blog: Local government finance reform will create winners and losers but could help engage communities and strengthen democracy.
• Ed Mayo, Director General of Co-operatives UK, writes about the co-operative movement around the world in the ResPublica blog:  Mass Ownership: From Brazil to Belfast.

Thursday 19^th:

• Craig Dearden-Phillips, chief executive of Stepping Out, writes for Third Sector: “austerity will bite even harder in 2012”. Read more…
• The Chair of the TI Board, Allison Ogden-Newton, comments (along with some other great people!) in the Guardian Social Enterprise Network’s Live Q&A on The London Olympics and the ‘social enterprise legacy’. Read more…
• Len Wardle, group chair at The Co-operative Group writes for the Guardian Sustainable Business Network, Co-operatives bill is a step in the right direction for the sector.

Friday 20^th:

• Randeep Ramesh’s writes in the Guardian:  Cameron’s drive for co-operatives is privatisation in disguise
• Even The Economist has covered employee ownership this week: John Lewis as a model: The feeling is mutual.
• Article in The Telegraph: Companies need to gain from their altruism; why David Cameron calls for more socially responsible capitalism.