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Co-Operative
Education
A debate on motion
S2M-2411 in the name of Bill Butler, on co-operative education.
The Deputy
Presiding Officer (Trish Godman):
The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion
S2M-2411, in the name of Bill Butler, on co-operative education. The debate
will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament commends the work being undertaken by the Co-operative
Group in Scotland to work in partnership with the Scottish Executive and
local authorities to introduce knowledge and experience of co-operative
principles into the mainstream curriculum of Scottish education; recognises
that co-operatives offer a unique and valuable form of business structure
from which Scotland can derive economic and social benefit and recognises
the need to make more Scots aware of the value of co-operation; supports the
establishment of the Co-operative Education Trust Scotland which will
involve the wider co-operative movement in education, and believes that the
Scottish Executive, Careers Scotland, Learning and Teaching Scotland and
local authorities should continue to work with the co-operative movement to
ensure the distribution of co-operative resource materials for use in
schools, support for teacher placements in the co-operative business
environment and support for the involvement of the young co-operatives in
schools.
Bill Butler (Glasgow
Anniesland) (Lab): I
declare an interest as a member of the Co-operative Party. I thank all
members who signed my motion and those who have stayed behind this evening
to hear the debate. Before I go any further, I commend my colleagues Elaine
Smith and Susan Deacon who, during yesterday's debate on growing an
enterprise culture, were the only members to mention the important role that
the co-operative and mutual sector plays in Scotland's economy. Sometimes it
is too easy for the role of co-ops and the value that they bring to
Scotland's economy to be overlooked. Our two largest co-op retailers, the
Co-operative Group and the Scottish Midland Co-operative Society employ
nearly 10,000 Scots between them and the co-op sector generates more than
£500 million of economic activity in Scotland. As convener of the
Co-operative Party group of MSPs, I am delighted to have secured the debate.
The Deputy
Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning (Allan Wilson):
I join other members in thanking the ubiquitous Bill Butler for securing
this debate and I welcome the sentiments that are expressed in his motion.
As an aside, I see no contradiction, distinction or difference in the motion
being lodged by Bill Butler, his colleagues in the Co-operative Party, the
Labour movement more generally or any other source. Members of any political
affiliation or none are at liberty to support or oppose what is said. I, for
one, welcome the sentiments and have been interested to hear the excellent
points that have been made during the debate.
Co-operatives were, of course, founded in the late 18th century in places
such as Fenwick and Govan, which are not far from where I live. They have
since become a part of the fabric of Scottish society, to the extent that we
have learned that by virtue of his involvement with the movement, James
Douglas-Hamilton has a dark secret that he refuses to divulge to members.
The Executive recognises the importance of co-operative and mutual
organisations in the modern world. Such organisations contribute to the
growth of our economy, provide jobs and offer economic and social benefits
to communities. We are therefore committed to improving the provision of
advice on co-operative development, which lies at the heart of our current
work to establish a co-operative development agency. We hope that that
agency will play a key role in promotion, creation and development of
dynamic and sustainable co-operatives in Scotland.
It has been said that co-operatives are based on the values or principles of
self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity,
which we all cherish and to which we all subscribe. Co-operative members
believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility
and caring for others. Such principles and values must underpin a Scottish
co-operative agency, which should provide a first-stop shop for people who
seek the expertise, advice, training and resources that are necessary to
encourage and allow the pursuit of the co-operative option.
The agency should be able to help to improve the growth of individual
co-operatives that have good commercial prospects. I cannot give a firm
commitment today on the activities that the agency would undertake, but it
should take account of work that is under way and it should avoid
duplication of existing support mechanisms that work well. I envisage that
internal consultation will conclude perhaps this month and I hope that my
colleague will make a more definitive statement in mid-May. I am sure that
that date will not be lost in the bigger picture.
The motion acknowledges that our schools are the places to start—Bill
Butler's speech was apposite in that regard. The curriculum review provides
a new context for co-operative education. The response to "A Curriculum for
Excellence" outlines how we will deliver a single and coherent Scottish
curriculum for people aged from three to 18. We will provide schools with
flexibility to use a range of approaches, which could include co-operative
education to allow all young people to become successful learners, confident
individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.
To answer Robert Brown, I am not talking about compelling, but about
including—that is an important distinction. To do what I have said we will
do, we will work in partnership with the widest range of stakeholders that
we can engage in the next phase of the curriculum review. One stakeholder
might be the co-operative education trust Scotland, which was established in
response to our determined to succeed strategy. The trust brings together
representations from across the co-operative movement.
The Co-operative Group and Co-operative Action have committed an initial
£225,000 to make things happen. Incidentally, I say to Margo MacDonald that
I do not see any inherent contradiction in that respect. Learning about the
market is not incompatible with learning about co-operation or its position
in that market—indeed, Co-op retail is a classic example of the genre.
Margo MacDonald:
I was referring to yesterday's debate in particular, in which the words
"co-operation" and "co-operative business" never occurred once. I listened
to the debate and was tempted to mention co-operatives in Portugal, which
are modern and entrepreneurial, as examples, but that would have been so
much out of kilter with everything else that was being said that I did not
mention them.
Allan Wilson:
As Margo MacDonald knows, I was present throughout the debate and had the
privilege of summing up. I assure her that one of my colleagues—Elaine
Smith—made comprehensive and extensive reference to the roles of
co-operation, the co-operative movement and co-operatives in building the
wider social economy. There is never enough time to respond to every point
in a debate, but that point was well made by Elaine Smith yesterday.
The co-operative education trust is more than a one-off response to an
Executive initiative. It will enhance long-term engagement between the
movement and all aspects of education here in Scotland. It recognises the
importance of teachers getting out of school and into business. That is the
sort of opportunity that excellence in education through business links—our
teacher placement programme—offers. By spending a week working alongside
business colleagues, teachers can enhance their knowledge of the world of
work and then impart it to the pupils who are in their care. They can take
back a wider perspective to their classrooms and, as enterprising teachers,
they can give young people the skills, knowledge and positive attitudes that
they will need to make their way in life.
Careers Scotland and Employee Ownership Scotland are working together to use
that model.
Over a three-day period, 10 teachers from six local authority areas will
visit co-operatives such as the John Lewis Partnership and the Co-op to gain
an insight into the benefits of employee ownership in a business
environment. All that is good work, which augurs well for the future.
Again, I thank Bill Butler for lodging his motion, which rightly commends
the work that we are doing and highlights the need for us to think about our
young people in particular as we take forward Scotland's proud tradition of
co-operation into the decades to come.
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