Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to encourage the development of co-operative businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Government supports mutuals and co-operatives right across the country, which provide diversity in all sectors of the economy. In 2014 the Government passed the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act, to reduce legal complexity for co-operatives and community benefit societies, and increased the amount of share capital an individual member can put into a co-operative society to £100,000.

HM Treasury officials also hosted a ‘Mutuals Workshop’ with representatives from the sector in 2019, to understand the challenges faced by mutuals and how Government can help to address these.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the registering authority for co-operative and community benefit societies under the 2014 Act. The FCA does not classify registrations by region. However, since 2010 over 1350 societies have been registered across the UK.