Principles met

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • We will promote community-based approaches to economic development that focus on supporting the creation of jobs, social enterprises and other businesses and providing an environment for co-operative and mutual enterprises to thrive.
  • We will embrace innovation in how we work with local communities to drive positive change.
  • 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.
  • In exploring new ways of meeting the priority needs of our communities we will encourage models, such as co-operatives and mutuals, which give greater influence and voice to staff and users. in designing and commissioning public services and in determining the use of public resources.
  • 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.

In Bury we’ve truly put inclusion at the heart of everything we do.

A short while ago we reviewed our ways of working in the Council and identified a real passion and commitment to equality from our workforce, communities, and leaders. This review also highlighted room for improvement in how we place inclusion at the heart of our systems, processes and culture, both internally and across the borough.

We started by getting the basics right; putting in place a clear Inclusion Strategy which included a new set of equality objectives. To develop the Strategy and drive our inclusion priorities we brought together a wide cross section of people in an Inclusion Working Group. The group is a mix of senior leaders with responsibility for some of our core functions, as well as staff from all service areas who have a passion for inclusion and driving this agenda across our borough and communities. It provides a unique mix of governance, co-design and engagement all in one and has been the engine room behind all things inclusion. Over the past year the group’s developed even further, expanding its membership and reach as part of our public service partnership, Team Bury, and working to drive forward the inclusion agenda across public service partners in the borough.

For further information contact: