Co-operative Council Values

Our values as a Co-operative Council (as adopted by Resolution of the Council on Wednesday 2 July 2014). 

Self-help: To promote and encourage members of our community to help and support themselves. This will be done through providing the opportunity to gain mutual benefits associated with working together to improve their lives through their own work and effort.  

Self-responsibility: To promote and encourage members of our community to take personal responsibility for their own active engagement in developing a sustainable local community.  

Democracy: To promote and encourage members of our community, through actively promoting the devolvement of decision making, to allow them to participate directly in the decisions that will impact upon their local community. 

Equality: To promote and encourage members of our community to treat others with respect, with an expectation of equality of access to service provision irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, religion, marital status, disability or belief. 

Equity: To promote and encourage members within of our community from disadvantaged and disaffected groups to expect a fair and just access to resources, based upon need. 

Solidarity: To promote and encourage members of our community to work with and support other local community-based organisations that adhere to our co-operative values. In doing so, to recognise the value of co-operation in achieving common aims. 

Ethically: To promote and encourage members of our community to recognise the promotion of these listed values should be enacted in a spirit of honesty, openness in promoting social responsibility and care for others. 

Principles putting these values into action (derived from the CCIN principles adopted by the organisation in 2014). 

Social partnership: We will strengthen the co-operative partnership between members of our community, local enterprises and mutuals and other partners adhering to our values, based on a shared sense of responsibility for wellbeing and mutual benefit. 

Democratic engagement: Support the active engagement of members of our community in decision making and priority setting. 

Co-production: Develop systems that enable members of our community to be equal partners in designing and commissioning public services, in addition to determining the use of public resources. 

Enterprise and social economy: Promoting a community-based approach to economic development, that focuses upon supporting the creation of jobs and businesses and providing an environment for co-operative and mutual enterprises to thrive. 

Maximising social value: Supporting the development of a framework and criteria for maximising social value by giving substance to this idea. Plus, providing the tools to ensure better social and economic outcomes for our community. 

Community leadership role for councillors: Exploring ways we can act as a platform for helping members of our community to contribute to local outcomes and re-thinking the role of councillors as community connectors, brokers and leaders. 

New models of meeting priority needs: In exploring new ways of meeting the priority needs of our communities we will proactively encourage models, such as co-operatives and mutuals, which give greater influence and voice to staff and users within our communities. Innovation: To actively seek and embrace innovation in how we work with members of our community to drive positive change and promotion of our co-operative values. 

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 and underpinning values within the Council and with our partners. 

To understand the linking of our co-operative values and principles to facilitate the development of sustainable communities through: