Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales, recently commissioned me through their Senedd research budget to produce a Report on how to increase the co-operatisation of the Welsh Economy.
In it I have made a series of recommendations for actions that fall within the limited powers of the Welsh Government. Hopefully at least some of these will form or influence Plaid Cymru’s future policy position.
You can read the Report here:-
The co-operative economy in Wales
This article was first published in the January 2023 edition of Co-op News
Sadly, I wasn’t able to get to Co-operative Ways Forward, but I was impressed by the report of Chris Saltmarsh (co-founder of Labour for a Green New Deal) telling everyone that co-ops have no place in the production of electricity, which must be nationalised.
As an ex-power station manager from when electricity was nationalised, I have to say his views on nationalisation are based on an inaccurate pre-conception. Whilst most of the nationalised industries, such as the National Coal Board, British Steel, British Gas, and British Leyland were very centralised and top down, the nationalised electricity industry was anything but, and its structure could easily be amended to incorporate co-operatives.
Before WW2 electricity was partly in private hands, but much was also in local authority ownership, and so most power stations were small and local. Nationalisation in 1946/47 brought them all together, and enabled the construction of the National Grid, a network of very high voltage lines which could transmit power around the country. This enabled economies of scale and improved security of supply, which was always paramount, and the system was designed to be able to withstand acts of god, terrorism, and war.
Lord Citrine in 1939 (Wikipedia)
The business model was designed by Lord Walter Citrine who had started out as an electrician, rose through the union movement to be Gen Secretary of the TUC from 1926 to 1946, and became the first Chair of the Central Electricity Board in 1947. He is better known for his guide to chairing meetings, but the business model for electricity was really his finest work. There were different models in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but across England and Wales he went for a multi-level structure. Sales to the public were through 7 Area Boards, who bought electricity from the CEB to sell on to the public, operated the distribution system, and ran a network of shops selling appliances, giving advice, and providing a house wiring service.
All the power stations and the National Grid were owned and developed centrally, but each power station was locally managed and operated as a cost centre within the main accounts. They had no base income and were only paid for the electricity they generated. Each had an Efficiency Dept. which aimed to minimise operating costs, but also had to calculate the cost of generation, updated each week, which determined where they would sit in the Running Order. The Grid Control Centre aimed to operate at the lowest possible cost whilst maintaining security of supply, and so called on the cheapest generators at the top of the Running Order first. This acted as an internal market and determined how much electricity each generator would be asked to provide.
Everyone knew if they didn’t operate efficiently, they would fall down the list, and less generation would lead to more wasted energy and a bigger burden of overhead costs. It was a slope that could only lead to eventual closure and redundancy if costs were allowed to rise, and the result was that every power station developed a powerful sense of identity and team spirit.
A recreation of this structure, with co-operatives running the power stations, and the National Grid in state ownership would give the central direction and long-term strategy we so desperately need alongside worker ownership. Additionally, the Area Boards, which had a monopoly of supply, could be recreated as multi-stakeholder or consumer co-operatives on the US model. Together, this would give all the advantages of state ownership without the crippling cost to the state of purchasing all the assets, and the co-operatives could raise the necessary funds through the sale of bonds and/or shares to the public and the money markets.
This approach worked well for the non-profit mutual that owns Welsh Water, which, like the electricity industry has a valuable asset base, on the back of which it was able to raise £1.9 billion in bonds from the markets in 2001. Electricity co-ops should be able to raise large amounts with relative ease, particularly if the issue was co-ordinated and supported by Government.
On June 21st I was invited to give a keynote address to the AGM of Smart, the Belgium based co-operative that provides services to the self employed. Smart now operates across 8 EU countries, and the AGM had representatives from all of them.
I spoke on the subject of Democracy, a wide ranging subject on which I gave my own personal views. Watch the video here:-
As part of my residency at Made in Roath, I’m working with Cat Lewis who is producing a new edition of the Cardiff People’s Paper the old fashioned way, pasting it up with Cow Gum, Letraset and tying it out on an electric typewriter.
It will feature current issues around Planning and redevelopment, including the controversial plan to relocate the Velindre cancer centre to a new site on the Northern Meadows
I’ve contacted other members of the original People’s Paper collective, Bob Dumbleton, Steve Gough, Jane Hutt and my partner Lynne Lewis, who are all inspired to see the old paper being reborn, although they may or may not all agree with all its content!
From now until March 5th, I’ve a residency at Made in Roath, at 1a Inverness Place, Roath, Cardiff https://madeinroath.com
It’s a joint residency with Cat Lewis https://catlewis.com whose contribution will focus on the Northern Meadows campaign
My contribution will feature the Hook Road and Cardiff People’s Paper’s contribution to the campaign to stop Motorway Madness.
To see the full Hook Road Exhibition click here
As Swansea Bay tries to put itself back into the frame by starting work on an access road to stop its planning consent expiring, its time to think again about whether this is the best way to develop our green energy capacity in Wales
Read the full report here: Alternatives to Swansea Bay Lagoon
I spent the day (9th Oct) at the Access to Cash roundtable run by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), chaired by Chris Hemsley, their MD
Fascinating stuff:-
The Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee met today, October 3rd and interviewed the Chair and officers from the Development Bank of Wales.
See what they said about Banc Cambria
In the small working class market town of Questembert in southern Britanny, the local school is getting a 4,000 sq ft extension containing new laboratories and a covered courtyard.
The official Planning Permission notice required by French law
In most parts of the UK, a contract like this would have been given to a large construction company, almost certainly out of the area because no local firm could cope. However, that is not the way here, or indeed in most of France. Failure to get contracts placed locally would be end for the local mayor at the next election. Indeed if the school bread contract doesn’t go to the local baker, that would probably be enough to finish their political career, never mind a contract like this which, based on standard prices, must be around €4million. Continue reading
As part of the policy review being undertaken jointly by the Co-op Party and the Labour Party to look at how to double the number of co-ops in the first term of an incoming Labour Government I’ve put together some notes on how it was in the 70s and 80s, when we had a network of up to 140 local Co-operative Development Associations and a national Co-operative Development Agency as part of Government.
Downloadable here: The national CDA
This policy review started with the nef report, Co-operatives Unleashed and has now produced an internal discussion paper for the Shadow Chancellor.
As part of the Implementation Group I’ve been at the heart of the debate, which is now continuing outside this group on Platform 6 and on Loomio at Proposal for a National Co-operative Development programme