Milton Keynes is a fully parished council with 48 parish and town councils (P&TCs). In 2014 Milton Keynes Council (MKC) began the process of devolving the delivery of some landscaping services to P&TCs. Twelve P&TCs took up this offer and have been successfully managing their local services. All twelve make additional financial contributions from their precept.

In 2020, MKC engaged Co-operative Futures (CF) to explore the co-operative options for P&TCs and the delivery of landscaping services going forward. For a co-operative option to be advantageous for both MKC and the P&TCs it must be able to provide an enabling framework for participation irrespective of size or capacity.

The recommendation from CF was the creation of a Direct Delivery Co-operative Consortium to deliver landscaping services, which will have MKC and the P&TCs as its members. Over time the co-operative will its own staff and all P&TCs will become members to maximise economies of scale.

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