Wales can lead the way on co-ops

If 2012 was the International Year of Co-operatives, then will 2013 be the Welsh Year of Co-operatives?

The co-operative economy in Wales is not insignificant - there are around 400 co-ops with a turnover of £1.3 billion.

For the fourth year running they outperformed the British economy, with a growth rate of 1.5 per cent.

Those of us in the co-op sector were delighted when last July Wales's Minister for Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science Edwina Hart launched the Welsh co-operative and mutuals commission.

Chaired by Professor Andrew Davies, the commission is charged with making "recommendations on growing and developing the co-operative and mutual economy in Wales in order to create jobs and wealth."

There's no reason why Wales cannot become one of the world's great co-operative regions, like Emilia Romagna in Italy or Quebec.

Wales already has co-operative development assets like the Wales Co-operative Centre. For 30 years it has been providing reliable support to co-op start-ups.

Unusually for this type of economic development body it owes its existence to the Wales TUC, which established it in 1981.

The platform of a supportive relationship between the trade union movement and the co-operative movement hasgreat potential.

Wales already has a different political narrative to the rest of Britain. The recent rows about water charges had little impact in Wales because of the ownership structure of Welsh Water.

Owned by Glas Cymru - a single-purpose company with no shareholders, run solely for the benefit of its customers - it has a business model that aims to reduce the industry's single biggest cost, capital.

Welsh Water's assets and investment are financed by bonds and retained financial surpluses. Efficiency savings have been used to build up reserves to insulate Welsh Water and its customers from unexpected costs.

Compare this with the £1.5bn that shareholders have siphoned out of Thames Water over the last four years.

Another sector crying out for co-operative ownership is the railways.

There is a vision for Rail Cymru - a new co-operative railway company serving the people of Wales and the borders.

Ironically the current Wales and Borders franchise is operated by Arriva, which is owned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn, itself owned by the German state. Public ownership is OK, apparently, so long as it isn't the British public.

The vision for Rail Cymru, involving rail employees, passengers, the wider community and the elected government of Wales, is supported by the Aslef rail union and by the co-operatives and mutuals commission.

The franchise comes up for renewal in 2018, allowing time for the Welsh government to develop its plans in detail, ensuring employees, passengers and the community are fully engaged with the vision for a people's railway set in an integrated network of connecting bus services, with improved access for walkers and cyclists to stations.

There are also plans for the development of co-operative social care in Wales.

If one sector should be denied to the profit-hungry private sector it has to be social care. There is huge scope for co-operative solutions in this sector empowering service users and social care workers.

Encouraging more fan-owned co-operative sports clubs like Wrexham and Merthyr Town also has to be on the agenda. These issues and more will be discussed when the caravan of the Co-operative Congress rolls into Cardiff in the summer.

The venue is the home of another another co-operative business, Glamorgan County Cricket Club's Swalec stadium.

I am sure co-operators from across Britain will be throwing their ideas into how to make Wales a co-operative champion in 2013.