Public Sector: Mutual Societies

(asked on 10th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support public service mutuals and co-operatives within the public sector; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reestablishing the Mutuals Support Programme.


Answered by
Matt Warman Portrait
Matt Warman
This question was answered on 18th June 2021

In recent years we have made a significant investment in the development of public service mutuals. We delivered a number of targeted support programmes, such as the Government’s Mutual Support Programme 2. We have also commissioned external research projects on Mutuals, the findings of which will be published shortly.

We have published tools and resources which replicate a number of the technical and legal consultancy services provided through the Government’s Mutual Support Programme 2. These will enable organisations and departments to explore mutualisation independently, where it aligns with their public service reform agendas.

These targeted programmes were always intended to be time limited and came to an end as of March 2020, and at this time the Mutuals Team, which led these programmes, was also disbanded. While we no longer have a team focused specifically on mutuals, we continue to be supportive of this model and will maintain an interest as part of our wider social enterprise agenda.

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