The Co-op Council that never was

 

As you may know, Lambeth Council likes to be known as the ‘Co-operative Council’.

To us at Lambeth United Housing Co-operative, under threat of eviction, Lambeth are clearly not a big or small ‘c’ co-operative council, and have proved that in many ways.

As for what the council says it is, this seems to depend on what day it is.

Recently the term was stripped from Lambeth Labour’s election manifesto and has been stripped from the branding of their website.  However, if questioned about this, they continue to adopt the phrase.

Perhaps we at LUHC have had a role to play in this identity crisis?

Either way, we wondered what has it cost Lambeth Council to become a ‘co-operative council’ and asked the following question:

What has it cost Lambeth Council to become a ‘co-operative council’?  The cost would include: any re-branding of printed communications and websites; staff hired to work to the aim; staff secondments; fact-finding visits and meetings; other consultancy; venue hire; and anything which relates to the start-up of the project and maintenance of the council as a ‘co-operative’ entity.

 

Please see below Lambeth’s ‘attempt’ at a response – it begs the question of whether the project ever existed at all!

FOI on Co-operative Council

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