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UK PARLIAMENT · SITTING

Sir Mark Hendrick

MP for Preston · Labour (Co-op) · United Kingdom

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

From our first day in office, we have worked on rebuilding our relationship with our European partners, be that through rejoining the Erasmus+ scheme, which gives young people across the UK and EU the opportunity to study and train on either side of the channel, or through the range of bilateral and multilateral agreements that this Gover…

UK-GERMAN RELATIONS · 2026-02-25 · READ IN HANSARD

Despite increased travel restrictions, more than 70 million trips were made by Britons to Europe, close to 1 million of which were made to Germany. In Parliament, the work of the all-party parliamentary group on Germany brings together politicians and stakeholders from both countries.

UK-GERMAN RELATIONS · 2026-02-25 · READ IN HANSARD

Naturally, relationships of this sort have their ups and downs; in recent history, Brexit stands out. That decision and the way it was conducted severely damaged people-to-people trust; it has weakened longstanding partnerships in private, public and economic affairs and made cross-border trade much more difficult, particularly trade cond…

UK-GERMAN RELATIONS · 2026-02-25 · READ IN HANSARD

Utilising the DIAMOND—delivering integrated air and missile operational networked defences—initiative, the UK and Germany, along with other NATO allies, are bolstering NATO’s eastern flank and building an alliance ready to defend itself.

UK-GERMAN RELATIONS · 2026-02-25 · READ IN HANSARD

For instance, the 94 new state-of-the-art Piccadilly line trains are produced by Siemens Mobility in East Yorkshire. That is a great example of our partnership in action, combining German engineering with British craftsmanship.

UK-GERMAN RELATIONS · 2026-02-25 · READ IN HANSARD

Later, when I was in my 20s, I went to Germany to train as an electrical engineer with AG Telefunken, working in the Frankfurt area. Like many others, I took advantage of an opportunity to live and work in Germany that is not available to young people today because of the folly of Brexit.

UK-GERMAN RELATIONS · 2026-02-25 · READ IN HANSARD

The complete record

Every one of 600 lines we hold for Sir Mark Hendrick, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 12.

  1. It is not desirable to cut and paste legislation between different traditions, so solutions are required that respect the political culture of different legal frameworks. To deal with this, simple legislation can be introduced in common law jurisdictions that would give every mutual the right to choose a constitution that preserves legacy assets for the purpose they were intended. My Bill does that. My Bill disincentivises the raiding of legacy assets through legislation. Voluntary legislation will ensure that legacy assets are preserved for the purposes for which they were intended. It will empower mutual members to decide what should happen to assets on a solvent dissolution, and it will match the best legislation in many countries around the world.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  2. To optimise the successful implementation of new legislation, properly recognising legacy assets for the benefits they bring will be an important ingredient for building confidence. Many jurisdictions have acted to preserve mutual ownership by ensuring that the assets may be used only for the purpose they were intended. That ensures they cannot be distributed to members or third parties, thus disincentivising demutualisation. Mergers, dissolutions and transfers of business are still permitted, so this arrangement does not hamper the evolution of a business in any way. Ideally, such measures would be universal, but in some legal traditions that is considered problematic, as it arguably alters the ownership rights of members retrospectively.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  3. That has been bad for mutuality, and bad for the economy with the damage it has caused to corporate diversity. Demutualised former building societies were mostly absorbed into the banks that failed in the financial crisis. Legislation is needed to help UK mutuals to preserve their legacy assets for the purpose for which they were intended: to maintain and encourage greater corporate diversity and to build a more resilient economy. Mutuals need to be able to incorporate appropriate measures into their constitutions that have a statutory basis, either at the point of establishment or thereafter, with an appropriate level of member approval. That will be even more important if the legislative reforms for co-operative and community benefit societies I have explained are taken forward.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  4. The statutory minimum threshold has been changed from time to time for different types of mutual society to make demutualisation less likely, but these measures provide only partial protection. There is currently no statutory mechanism for ensuring that surpluses, which the previous generations never intended should be a private reward for anybody, remain committed to the wider public purpose. At present, it is not possible for an existing society, or those setting up a new society, to proscribe demutualisation. That leaves mutuals vulnerable to those simply aiming to liberate the legacy asset, share it out among those they choose and convert the business into an investor-owned company. That has resulted in much of the UK building society sector being lost, and their businesses then either failing or transferring to non-UK ownership.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  5. Capturing that asset is the usual incentive for a demutualisation, which is when a capital surplus or legacy asset is divided up between shareholders, when the mutual agreement between the former members, whereby they engaged in their society on the basis that they would not personally profit from its trade, is broken up. In short, it is when a mutual purpose for the common good is replaced by a profit-driven purpose for private benefit. In UK law, there is no generic or principled recognition of the value to wider society of mutuality or the legacy asset of a mutual society. As a result, the ability to access legacy assets actively incentivises demutualisation. Provided that relevant formal procedures are completed, including securing consent from a statutory minimum threshold of members, a demutualisation cannot be stopped.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  6. It represents the trading surplus accumulated by previous generations of members participating in their society’s business, in which they were always content to have no personal share. By implication, it is held for the benefit of future generations. The society was originally set up not to make capital surplus to reward members, but to provide goods and services for those who need them. That was its purpose, and it was the basis upon which previous generations have taken part in its trade. Seen through the lens of investor ownership, a capital surplus is a tempting asset—a windfall of unearned profit that, were mutual members to be replaced by investor-shareholders, could be shared out among those shareholders.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  7. By contrast, members of a mutual society generally have neither of those rights because a mutual’s profits are not generally used as a mechanism for rewarding capital, and members of a mutual do not have any expectation of or entitlement to a share in the increased value of their society. As members of a mutual are not entitled to any share of its increased value, the amount by which the net asset value of the society exceeds the capital provided by members—otherwise known as capital surplus on solvent winding up—has no specific owner. It is effectively a legacy asset held by the society for future generations, enabling the society to provide for and invest in its future. That is a core part of the mutual’s identity.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  8. It is perhaps less positive that we have had to take this piecemeal private Member’s Bill approach to legislation, but I sincerely hope that the promised Law Commission review puts that right, and that a modern framework for business is established once and for all. My Bill is about giving mutuals the option to maintain mutual capital for the purpose for which it is intended. There is a fundamental distinction between the rights of members of a mutual society and members of an investor -owned company. Members of a company—shareholders — have the right to a pro-rata share of distributed profits, or dividends, based on their shareholding, and to a pro-rata share of the underlying value of the company. The more capital they own, the greater their share of the profits and of the value of the company.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  9. In that regard, diversity is strength, and regulation should take seriously its role in ensuring that co-operatives and mutuals are not ignored, or worse, homogenised into a single idea of business driven by shareholder-owned interests. The Bill is one of a series of such private Members’ Bills over the last 20 years. I am proud to have played my part in bringing it to the House in the way that my predecessors did. There have been five Bills to modernise co-operative and mutual law, all of which have received Royal Assent. It is welcome that our efforts and endeavours have had the support of Treasury Ministers and from both sides of the House. This is one area in which there is genuine and lasting cross-party consensus. It is no less welcome that we enjoy today the support of His Majesty’s Government for this sixth such Bill.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  10. We look forward to working with the Government to ensure that legal options are no longer a poor relation but match the standard of the best in the world. Thirdly, we need regulators to appreciate the role of co-operatives and mutuals. We can have the best policy and legislation, but in practical terms, progress can be thwarted if regulators lag behind. They should no longer see their role as facilitating demutualisation, as they unfortunately did in the LV debacle. Instead, the true champions of consumers should be driving corporate diversity and choice. If there was one lesson to take from the global financial crisis, it was that we do not want all businesses following the same mistaken strategy.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  11. Secondly, on legislative reform, the Bill is part of making legislation on co-operatives and mutuals fit for purpose for a modern economy. Co-operative law was first introduced to this House in the 1860s, and formed the basis for co-op law in many countries around the world, but it has sadly not been kept up to date. We want to draw on the best practice in the world, which is why the idea of protecting assets for their intended purpose is so important. Countries that have adopted such provisions have much more robust co-operative and mutual business sectors. The removal of the incentive to demutualise means that they can continue to grow in line with the interests of the members they serve. There is more to do on legislative reform, as my original Bill identified.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  12. I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. The object of my Bill is to help ensure the best business environment for co-operatives and mutuals, and that means three things. First, we need a good policy understanding of the importance of mutual business, and that must stretch across Government to Ministers and officials. We recognise that it is always a challenge to get attention from a busy Department such as the Treasury, but well-informed and motivated Ministers and officials will give us a fighting chance. Co-operatives and mutuals are an important feature in a mixed economy when their different business purposes are recognised and allowed to flourish. Good policy is the foundation stone for that.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  13. Finally, I wish to thank in advance my noble Friend Lord Kennedy of Southwark for agreeing to take my Bill through the other place. Question put and agreed to. Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  14. With the leave of the House, I wish to thank all my friends and colleagues in the House for their support of my Bill. I also thank the variety of Treasury Ministers who, due to a number of reshuffles, have been able to work with me on the Bill from last year to now, including the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller) and the current Economic Secretary to the Treasury. My thanks go out to all the Treasury civil servants who are present in the Chamber today. I wish to thank Peter Hunt and Mark Willetts at Mutuo for their help and advice in drafting the Bill, and also the Co-operative party, which has supported me throughout the whole of my political career, stretching back to the 1980s when I was in local government, the 1990s when I was in the European Parliament, and since 2000 when I entered this House.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2023-02-24 · READ IN HANSARD

  15. I will call Pete Wishart to move the motion, and then the Minister to respond. As is the convention for 30-minute debates, there will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up because the debate is too short. I will not call any Members to make speeches other than Mr Wishart and the Minister, so other Members can make interventions only.

    SMALLER MUSICAL GENRES: SCOTLAND · 2023-01-31 · READ IN HANSARD

  16. Just before I bring the Minister in, there is the possibility of a Division fairly shortly, but I will apply any injury time from the vote to the debate.

    SMALLER MUSICAL GENRES: SCOTLAND · 2023-01-31 · READ IN HANSARD

  17. Order. The sitting is suspended for 15 minutes for a Division in the House. If there are two Divisions, it will be suspended for 25 minutes. I will resume the sitting when Members currently present return to their seats.

    COUNCIL TAX AND REVENUE SUPPORT GRANT · 2023-01-31 · READ IN HANSARD

  18. Order. First, I give permission for Members to remove their jackets if they wish. Secondly, I ask the Minister to address his points through the Chair, rather than with his back to the Chair.

    COUNCIL TAX AND REVENUE SUPPORT GRANT · 2023-01-31 · READ IN HANSARD

  19. T3. May I ask the Home Secretary whether, at the end of the year, she will reflect on the comments that she made in early October about sending asylum seekers to Rwanda? She will be aware that a 28-year-old woman from Eritrea who was 37 weeks pregnant as a result of rape was in line for deportation. Does not talk of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda being a “dream” or an “obsession” show all the sensitivity and compassion of Jeremy Clarkson?

    TOPICAL QUESTIONS · 2022-12-19 · READ IN HANSARD

  20. The ARAP scheme and the ACRS have done very little to bring many, if any, of my constituents’ relatives and friends away from the horror going on in Afghanistan.” The Minister pointed out that the ACRS was open and “will prioritise those who have assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan and those who have stood up for values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech and the rule of law, as well as vulnerable people, including women and girls who are at risk and members of minority groups who are at risk.” —[ Official Report , 20 January 2022; Vol. 707, c. 505-6.] We have seen that pathway 3 was open not from January but from June. Six months later, not one person has been settled in this country.

    BRITISH COUNCIL CONTRACTORS: AFGHANISTAN · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  21. On 20 January 2022 there was an urgent question on British Council staff, at which I told the then Minister of State for Asia, the right hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Amanda Milling), that “many of us have thousands of constituents—in my case, up to 150—who have relatives and friends who have worked for the British in Afghanistan and who are in terrible need of resettlement to this country.

    BRITISH COUNCIL CONTRACTORS: AFGHANISTAN · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  22. As a member of the International Trade Committee, may I reiterate that point? It was clear to me and many other members of the Committee, as the negotiations went on under two previous International Trade Secretaries, that it was going to be the first deal negotiated from scratch and that therefore there was an attempt to use it as a tick-box exercise, to add to those roll-over deals that were already agreed, and there was haste to get the deal done so they could say for the first time that a separate deal had been done that was not a roll-over.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  23. The former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice), recently criticised the Australia trade deal in the Chamber as not actually being a very good deal for the UK, admitting that “the UK gave away far too much for far too little in return.” Indeed, he said that “since I now enjoy the freedom of the Back Benches, I no longer have to put such a positive gloss on what was agreed…unless we recognise the failures the Department for International Trade made during the Australia negotiations, we will not be able to learn the lessons for future negotiations.” He went on to say: “We did not need to give Australia or New Zealand full liberalisation in beef and sheep—it was not in our economic interest to do so, and neither Australia nor New Zealand had anything to offer in return for such a grand concession.” —[ Official Report , 14 November 2022; Vol.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  24. Australia and New Zealand have the distinction of being non-EU countries with which the UK negotiated trade deals from scratch post Brexit, but the proof is in the pudding. The trade deals are terrible for Britain. They benefit Australian and New Zealand exporters more than UK exporters, while UK agriculture, forestry, fishing, and its semi-processed food industry are left to suffer the consequences. Australia and New Zealand received full liberalisation on beef and sheep and unfettered access to the UK food market, but the UK did not receive the same concessions in return. The Government’s own Back Benchers have exposed what we have known for some time—that securing those trade measures was a box-ticking exercise, rushed through to get a deal done, and not necessarily in the best interests of the UK.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  25. Members for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss) and for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)—the Government have deliberately prevented MPs from having a say in the details of the deals. It is painfully obvious how haphazardly negotiations have been handled. Meanwhile, the Government have continued to tout the number of trade deals that they have secured, but the truth is that a majority of those deals are simply rolled-over deals forged when the UK was a member of the European Union. They are not even close to achieving the 80% of UK trade that they claimed would be covered by trade agreements by the end of 2022, including an agreement with the USA, which was pledged in the 2019 Conservative manifesto.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  26. I support the new clauses on impact assessments after various periods on issues affecting farmers, procurement, the UK regions, equality and human rights, and I shall make reference to the way in which the negotiations have been handled, the attitude of various Secretaries of State to scrutiny and, in particular, the role of the International Trade Committee. As a member of that Committee, I have seen at first hand the Government’s mishandling of the trade measures that the Bill will implement, as well as their lack of transparency and of a coherent strategy on negotiating free trade agreements. Under the two previous Secretaries of State—the right hon.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  27. I totally agree that that is reprehensible, but it was not the first time that it happened. The Japan deal was a roll-over deal, but parts of it were new and were added at the last minute. The Government delayed the details until 24 hours before the report was published, so the International Trade Committee could not scrutinise it properly and comment on it. It happened with Japan before it happened with Australia.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  28. They could also force many farmers out of business, according to the NFU president, Minette Batters. Ultimately, the Government may see implementation of these deals as a stepping stone to accession to the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership, but I am dismayed that that is at the expense of our own farmers and our wider economy. May I ask the Government to review the negotiations on the chapters of this agreement, and the lessons learned from those negotiations, and to make an assessment of how this experience might inform the negotiation of future trade agreements? If other countries, in CPTPP or elsewhere around the world—whether in South America or wherever—can see that this country can be rolled over so easily in its negotiating power, it sets a bad precedent for future trade deals.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  29. I will not comment too much on that. There are rules to free trade—it is not a free-for-all—but at the same time, I do not think that the Liberal Democrats believe in totally free markets any more than we do. Records show that the former Prime Minister, then the Trade Secretary, the right hon. Member for South West Norfolk, pressed ahead with the deal despite receiving detailed warnings from her own officials in 2020 that she was acting against the UK’s best interests. The British agricultural industry and farmers already facing pressures from inflation and labour shortages stand to lose the most from this Bill, as the NFU has long maintained. These deals are not in our economic interest and are a threat to domestic business and food security.

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  30. I have recently returned from visiting Singapore on behalf of the International Trade Committee, where it was mentioned to us that Singapore has done a green economy agreement with Australia, which looks at emissions as part and parcel of that trade package. Given what my hon. Friend has said about Australian emissions, could he perhaps comment on that?

    TRADE (AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND) BILL · 2022-12-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  31. I beg to move amendment 1, in clause 1, page 2, line 2, at end insert— “(ba) provide for the case mentioned in subsection (2)(a) to be subject to such exceptions as may be prescribed;”. This Amendment would enable the Treasury to make provision in the regulations about exceptions to the case allowing for a mutual entity to use or deal with assets for a purpose for which the activities of the entity are carried on.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  32. It ensures that, where a mutual’s rules make the capital surplus non-distributable, any resolution to convert into, amalgamate with or transfer engagements to a company shall also include a provision to transfer the capital surplus, as provided by the rules, in the event of a solvent winding-up.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  33. The Bill achieves that by introducing a voluntary power to enable a mutual to choose a constitutional change so that its legacy assets would be non-distributable; to detail precisely the destination of any capital surplus on a solvent winding-up; to outline the procedures necessary to include such provisions in a mutual’s rules; and to insert a statutory provision for the relevant rules to be unalterable. The Bill defines the capital surplus as the amount remaining after deducting a mutual’s total liabilities from its total assets, including repayment of members’ capital. The Bill introduces new provisions to maintain the destination of the capital surplus.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  34. Legacy assets have been built up over generations of membership and often constitute a significant part of the working capital of the business. Current members typically have not contributed to that capital base, but have enjoyed the benefits of previous years of successful trading. The Bill disincentivises the raiding of legacy assets through legislation. Voluntary legislation will ensure that legacy assets are preserved for the purpose for which they were intended. The Bill empowers mutual members to decide what should happen to assets on a solvent dissolution. It would match the best legislation that exists in many countries.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  35. The Bill does that by proposing simple voluntary legislation that would give every mutual the right to choose a constitution—either at the point of establishment or thereafter, with an appropriate level of member approval—that preserves legacy assets for the purpose for which they were intended. As witnessed in 2021 with Liverpool Victoria, or LV=, mutuals remain a target for asset-stripping demutualisers attracted by legacy assets built up over generations. That is unfortunately incentivised by the legislation governing mutuals and remains a real and present threat to the mutual sector. The Bill is about giving mutuals the option to maintain mutual capital for the purpose for which it is intended.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  36. Members on both sides of the House agreed on Second Reading that a strong network of co-operative and mutual businesses can play an important role in a diverse and modern economy. Co-operatives and mutuals represent a serious contribution to the UK economy, accounting for more than £133.5 billion of income annually. The Bill will ensure that Government policy understands and supports the difference of mutual businesses. It will also create legislation that permits co-operatives, mutuals and friendly societies to undertake their business purpose of serving their members’ needs in the best way possible. Crucially, it will give co-operatives and mutuals the opportunity to opt into a framework providing greater safeguards for their assets and more protection against demutualisation.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  37. Good morning, Mr Mundell. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I am grateful to you and to Committee members for joining me to look at the detail of the Bill. Co-operatives, mutual insurers and friendly societies have an important part to play in the biodiversity of our economy. These businesses share their origins in self-help movements that are relevant to the economic and social challenges faced by people today, and they need a business environment that facilitates their activity. I have therefore introduced a Bill to make long overdue changes to the legislation that governs co-operatives and mutuals and to create a more modern and supportive business environment for them to operate in.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  38. The initial proposals also dealt with friendly societies needing an updated legal framework to facilitate their contribution as modern businesses working to help level up and promote economic prosperity. Friendly societies have not seen their legislation updated for quite some time; that is long overdue. The Bill does not cover the whole scope of what I wanted it to achieve, but I am extremely pleased that the Government are backing a key aspect of my proposals concerning mutual assets. They have also given assurances that they plan to conduct a wider review of key legislation underpinning the co-operatives, mutuals and friendly societies sector with some firm proposals, instructing the Law Commission to conduct a review as part of that process. That is major progress and a step forward for the sector.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  39. I would like to express some disappointment that the overall ambition of my original Bill is not included in this version. In addition to allowing co-operatives, mutuals and friendly societies to safeguard their legacy assets to disincentivise demutualisers, the Bill’s initial proposals addressed some other issues: co-operatives needing the ability to issue perpetual capital to fund investment and growth—that would have meant a new type of share—and mutual insurers and friendly societies needing to be able to issue mutuals’ deferred shares to fund investment and growth without suffering disproportionate tax penalties. I discussed that issue in some detail with Ministers—both the current Minister and the former Minister, the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire, who is on this Committee.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  40. It could be argued that demutualisation, which involves distributing surplus funds to members, is for the benefit of members. However, given that the Bill aims to reduce incentives for demutualisation, the amendment is needed to close that loophole; otherwise, the ultimate purpose of the Bill risks being defeated. The amendment also ensures that the Bill is sufficiently broad that it is future-proofed and works for the wider mutuals sector. The other two amendments are technical changes to ensure that the long title reflects the current contents of the Bill—namely, that the purpose of the Bill is to permit the capital surplus of mutual entities to be non-distributable. They leave out the words from “Make provision” to “to permit” and the words “; to amend the Friendly Societies Act 1992”.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  41. Yes, I totally agree. The Bill is consistent with the levelling-up agenda. It is meant to ensure that the assets remain in place for the purposes for which the asset base was originally intended. Let me set out the detail of the clauses and the amendments. Amendment 1 addresses an inconsistency in the legal text in clause 1(2)(a), which results from trying to capture the varied range of entities that make up the mutuals sector. As I said, there are co-operatives, mutuals and friendly societies—different types of organisation and company. In its current form, the Bill proposes an asset lock for a purpose that is for the objects of a mutual entity. The purpose of a co-operative is often seen as one that is for the benefit of its members.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  42. I thank the hon. Member for his contribution and for the part he played in my getting this far with the Bill. I hope the Minister will indicate what moves are afoot and what progress will be made in that direction.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  43. I hope that moving in the direction of the Law Commission setting up a review of the sector and of the two pieces of legislation he wrote to me about that need review will bring the rules and legislation on co-operatives, mutuals, associations and friendly societies up to date with what is seen as best practice across Europe. Italy, France, Spain and Germany are far more advanced in how they help the sector, in terms of both taxation and the way in which organisations are viewed and are able to expand.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  44. I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. A lot depends on how it is framed at the start when the mutual or co-operative decides to register. Remember that this is an opt-in; therefore, any conditions upon the dissolution of the company will depend very much on its registration and constitution. Those would allow for this, if the organisation were so set up. I am sure that the Minister will comment on that as well. Returning to the previous intervention, I hope the Minister will give some assurances, because there are obviously none in the Bill.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  45. I concur totally with my hon. Friend. Let me close by thanking you, Mr Mundell, and by thanking my colleagues for their contributions and for being present to support the Bill. I also thank everyone who has worked so hard to make it a success, including Peter Hunt and Mutuo, the Co-operative party, the co-operative sector, and the Minister and his Treasury officials. Only by working in a modern and supportive business environment will co-operatives, mutuals and friendly societies be able to make a full contribution to the prosperity of our country by serving the interests of customers, and, indeed, citizens.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  46. Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Title Amendments made: 2, in title, line 1, leave out from “Make provision” to “to permit” in line 3. This Amendment and Amendment 3 would amend the long title of the Bill to reflect that the purpose of the Bill is to permit the capital surplus of mutual entities to be non-distributable. Amendment 3, in title, line 4, leave out— “; to amend the Friendly Societies Act 1992”.— (Sir Mark Hendrick.) See the explanatory statement for Amendment 2. Bill, as amended, to be reported .

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  47. I hope that we can also work to deliver, in future, further aspects of my original Bill in order to reach what I think is a conducive and favourable environment for co-operatives, mutuals and friendly societies in this country. If we look at the examples of the sector in other countries, in particular in mainland Europe, we can see that we are well behind in the degree of contribution to the GDP of those countries, compared with the degree of the contribution to GDP of the sector in this country. A lot remains to be done, but I thank the Minister for bringing forward that work to ensure that we can get there at some stage in the future. Thank you, Mr Mundell, and I thank the Minister, the Treasury team and everyone else present today to support my Bill. Amendment 1 agreed to . Clause 1, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill .

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  48. I am grateful for the co-operation that the Government have shown on the Bill through successive Ministers over the past four or five months. I am encouraged to hear about the co-operation of the Law Commission and the moves to be made to involve it in a review of the sector. I look forward to seeing what the review brings forward. In the spirit of what my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West said, I hope that the House will get the chance to deliberate the outcome of the review and to produce future legislation that will go towards solving many of the problems that I identified in my original draft of the Bill. This is not the Bill that I introduced, but a good chunk of it is there, and I am grateful for the asset lock that is being introduced.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL (FIRST SITTING) · 2022-11-30 · READ IN HANSARD

  49. That matters to me because co-operation and mutuality are about equity and fairness. The growth of co-operatives in the UK is an integral part of the levelling-up agenda; it can provide many thousands of new jobs in the economy; and it is complementary to the Government’s growth agenda. Alongside investor-owned firms, co-operatives, mutual insurers and friendly societies have an important part to play in the biodiversity of our economy. These businesses share their origins in self-help movements that are relevant to the economic and social challenges that people face today.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2022-10-28 · READ IN HANSARD

  50. Co-operative societies then mushroomed to form dozens of co-operatives in many Lancashire towns and cities until the 1930s, when the Manchester, Salford and Stockport societies amalgamated to form the North West Co-operative Society. In July 1982, what became the Norwest Co-operative Society merged with the Pioneers Co-operative Society to form the Norwest Pioneers. I bought a share later that year. I would never have dreamed that 40 years later I would have the opportunity to stand here and propose a new piece of legislation that could help to preserve and protect members’ assets accumulated, in many cases, over generations from potential predators who, in recent decades, have sought to take away those assets from members for their own personal profit and gain.

    CO-OPERATIVES, MUTUALS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL · 2022-10-28 · READ IN HANSARD