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Principles met

  • Co-production

    We will develop systems that enable citizens to be equal partners in designing and commissioning public services and in determining the use of public resources.

  • Community leadership and a new role for councillors

    We will explore ways for councils to act as a platform for helping the community to contribute to local outcomes, and to re-think the role of councillors as community connectors, brokers and leaders.

  • Learning

    We will capture and ‘expand’ the experience and learning from individual projects and approaches in order to encourage broader application of co-operative principles within individual member Councils and across the Network.

  • Walking the talk

    As a membership organisation, we will make this statement of our principles operational by: • Co-operation among members: Our members work together to help each other implement our values, sharing experiences and learning. • Openness of membership: Full, Associate and Affiliate Membership is open to any qualifying Council, organisation or individual who shares our values and is committed to putting them into action. • Co-production of the Network’s work: Members help shape the Network’s work programme and the content of events and written products. • Action-focused: The network is a vehicle for helping councils translate co-operative values and principles into policy and practice. •Membership-based: The network is majority funded by modest membership subscriptions from its member Councils, Associates and Affiliates. •Non-party-political: Members share the belief that working co-operatively within and across communities holds the key to tackling today’s challenges.

Oldham Council Reaffirms Support for Armed Forces Community

Here in Oldham, we’re incredibly proud to be a co-operative borough. It’s not just a label – it’s a way of working and is part of our cultural DNA. It’s about fairness, people helping each other, and ensuring everyone has a voice. So when we signed the Armed Forces Covenant, we didn’t want it to be just a statement on paper. We wanted it to be something real, something that changed lives.

We know that people who’ve served in the Armed Forces often face extra challenges—whether it’s finding the right job, accessing healthcare, or just adjusting to a new way of life. Sometimes, those challenges are made harder because people don’t quite understand what military life is like. We wanted to change that.

The first step was listening. We spoke with veterans and their families here in Oldham to hear about their experiences – what had worked, what hadn’t, and what could be better. Their stories shaped everything that followed. We set up an Armed Forces Board that brings people together: the NHS, housing, employment services, local charities, and most importantly, the Armed Forces community themselves. This wasn’t about top-down policy development – it was about sitting around the table and figuring it out together.

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