Moved by
That the Bill do now pass.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, in these few brief remarks, I pay tribute to the Bill’s
sponsor in the other place, Sir Mark Hendrick, the Member for
Preston. I also pay tribute to Peter Hunt, Mark Willetts and all
the team at Mutuo, an organisation that has done fantastic work
in the co-operative sector over recent years and had many bits of
legislation passed. They have done a wonderful job, and we thank
them very much for all their work.
The Bill is passive: it requires no co-op, mutual or friendly
society to do anything whatever, but it enables them to take
action, if they want, to protect their organisations and prevent
unwanted attempts to demutualise. So it is a welcome piece of
legislation. I thank the Government and the Opposition for their
support, and the noble Lord, , for his support on these
matters over many years. I also thank the Treasury and Treasury
officials for their support. I beg to move.
(Con)
My Lords, this is a vital Bill for the mutual movement of the
United Kingdom. It prevents any predator trying to take away the
capital put in by individual members of the society, and it is
absolutely vital that this goes through. I recognise that another
element sitting on the statute book that complements the Bill is
the Mutuals’ Deferred Shares Act 2015, which I had the honour of
taking through this House some time ago. I say to my noble friend
on the Front Bench that we in this country now have a huge
opportunity to benefit in the same way that Canada and Holland
have from the mutual movement. It is ready to move forward, and
we now look to His Majesty’s Government to implement the Bill and
take the mutual movement forward. I particularly thank the noble
Lord on the Front Bench on the other side of the House for all
that he has done to take it this far.
(LD)
My Lords, briefly, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord,
, whose speech I agree with
completely. The noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, and his colleagues
should be congratulated on bringing forward the Bill. It is a
passive Bill, and it is no reflection on him but, sadly, it is
too late: too many mutuals have been cashed in, with the current
generation benefiting from the prudence of past generations.
Anything that we can do to halt that decline is excellent.
Turning to the Front Bench, I think that this is an important
sector that has largely been undervalued over past decades.
Taking the theme of the noble Lord, , I think this is an opportunity
to kick off with this sector of our economy and perhaps grow it
and make it more valuable, which it undoubtedly has the potential
to be.
10:15:00
(Lab)
My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on the success of
his Bill. I also congratulate for steering it through the other place. I
know that my noble friend Lord Kennedy has supported
co-operatives for over 40 years, and I note that some of the
principles of them are democratic member control, autonomy and
independence—perhaps not principles you might normally expect to
be championed by a Chief Whip, but my noble friend does so with
ease. The Bill will help UK mutuals preserve their legacy assets
for the purpose for which they were intended, maintain and
encourage greater corporate diversity and build a more resilient
economy—objectives on which I am sure we can all agree.
The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury () (Con)
My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, for
guiding the Bill through your Lordships’ House and for lending
his wealth of knowledge and experience to our debates. I also
congratulate Sir Mark Kendrick as his Bill reaches this milestone
today. In particular, I recognise the close work between Sir Mark
and my honourable friends the Economic Secretary to the Treasury
and his predecessor, , who supported the Bill
through the House of Commons on behalf of the Government.
At their core, mutuals give people a stake in how businesses and
organisations should be run. They make up a diverse sector of
commonly owned and democratically controlled enterprises that
provide vital services to their members across all industries.
That is why creating the right legal apparatus in which mutuals
can thrive and grow is so important. The Bill is a contribution
towards that. As noble Lords said, it aims to provide the sector
with options to safeguard its businesses, have more control over
their funds and ensure that they are better equipped to avoid
demutualisation.
Hearing support for the sector in this brief debate, I reassure
noble Lords that government support for mutuals goes far beyond
the Bill. The Financial Services and Markets Bill includes
amendments to the Credit Unions Act to allow them to offer a
wider range of products and services, and we intend to amend the
Building Societies Act as part of the Edinburgh reforms package
to modernise legislation for building societies. I am also happy
to confirm that the Government will launch reviews of the
Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and the
Friendly Societies Act 1992, conducted by the Law Commission,
with the aim of identifying essential updates to the legislation,
allowing for a more modern legal structure in which mutuals can
be supported to capitalise on new opportunities to grow. So the
Bill is the start of more work to come to support this important
sector, and I am glad that the Government can support it.
Bill passed.
