By Vivienne Russell | 1 June 2012
Three council ‘spin-off’ mutuals are the first to receive government cash to help them access professional support and win contracts, the Cabinet Office announced today.
The largest award from the £10m Mutual Support Programme went to 3BM (Three Boroughs Mutual), which hopes to provide to school support services after spinning out from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It has been awarded £55,852 to help with legal support for the tender process.
Blackpool Borough Council staff planning to form a mutual providing youth services received £10,000 to help with business planning. And the employees running Hazlitt Arts Centre in Maidstone are also hoping to spin out from the borough council to compete for a contract. They have been awarded £18,927 to fund professional support and improve their business skills.
Announcing the awards today, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: ‘Mutuals can deliver more efficient services for the public – that is why we are ending the binary choice between private and state provision.
Three council ‘spin-off’ mutuals are the first to receive government cash to help them access professional support and win contracts, the Cabinet Office announced today.
The largest award from the £10m Mutual Support Programme went to 3BM (Three Boroughs Mutual), which hopes to provide to school support services after spinning out from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It has been awarded £55,852 to help with legal support for the tender process.
Blackpool Borough Council staff planning to form a mutual providing youth services received £10,000 to help with business planning. And the employees running Hazlitt Arts Centre in Maidstone are also hoping to spin out from the borough council to compete for a contract. They have been awarded £18,927 to fund professional support and improve their business skills.
Announcing the awards today, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: ‘Mutuals can deliver more efficient services for the public – that is why we are ending the binary choice between private and state provision.
‘We want to see a new wave of mutuals as more organisations benefit from our Mutual Support Programme and more entrepreneurial frontline staff pioneer the way for others.
‘Fledgling mutuals will get professional expertise and advice that they would otherwise be unable to access. And we will build a valuable knowledge-sharing database of what works, as well as what does not, that other upcoming mutuals can draw upon.’
