Why employee ownership? - Public sector employee ownership
Are you considering spinning out of the public sector into a mutual? If so, Baxi Partnership is offering a FREE mutuals litmus test which will offer a bit of insight into how well suited you are to going down this route. Simply follow the link below to the 5-minute confidential survey and we’ll get back to you with a brief piece of analysis and some pointers towards any next steps.
Click here to take the survey…
There are some very strong examples of employee owned and led organisations currently delivering public services, but until now those enterprises have been in a tiny minority.
At the May 2010 General Election, all three of the main political parties explicitly backed measures to increase the amount of employee owned organisations operating in the UK. Since then, the Coalition Government has committed to growing the sector, with initiatives being developed to give all public sector staff the opportunity to transfer into employee-led mutuals.
In August 2010, Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude launched the first wave of the Government’s new Pathfinder Mutuals that is piloting groups of public sector staff in a range of service delivery areas who are exploring spinning out into their own organisations. The Baxi Partnership is currently a mentor to two of those Pathfinders, and is supporting the Cabinet Office on this developing policy agenda.
On 17 November 2010, Francis Maude announced that the Cabinet Office were in negotiation with all Whitehall departments to ensure that frontline public sector staff would be given a right to provide which amounts to an invitation to take over full responsibility for providing their current service.
Also launched that day was the Mutuals Information Service, which provides initial support to anyone in the public sector considering becoming an employee-led mutual. Baxi Partnership were instrumental in helping to set up the MIS, alongside the Employee Ownership Association and Co-ops UK. The service is currently provided by Local Partnerships.
Baxi Partnership is currently working with a range of public sector organisations to help develop their business case for change.
Notable employee-owned and led organisations currently delivering public services include Central Surrey Health and Sunderland Home Care Associates, both of whom received support at the point of transition from individuals who are now senior members of the Baxi Partnership team.
