Telford & Wrekin scoops Co-operative Council of the Year award
A council is celebrating winning a national award after a public vote saw them go head-to-head with co-operative councils from across the UK.
The Co-operative Council of the Year award for Telford & Wrekin Council was announced on the eve of the Local Government Association (LGA) Virtual Annual Conference, the largest event for local authorities from across the UK.
Leader of the authority Councillor Shaun Davies said they were thrilled to have received the award.
He said: “Thank you to everyone who voted for us. This award is incredibly important to us because it demonstrates the support we have from our community and the people we strive to support every day.
“From the votes we achieved, it proves that people are happy with the service we provide and really do listen to the feedback we get and even more importantly, take that feedback and turn it into action.
“The award adds to our growing list including an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted inspection for Children's Services, ‘Outstanding' CQC Inspection 2020, and Armed Forces Gold Award 2020.
“Co-operative values underpin how we deliver our services – and work for and in partnership with our local community, every day. This award is incredibly important as it recognises the way we work for, and in partnership with our communities to ‘protect, care and invest’ to create a better borough.
“Co-operative Council values are based on self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity and members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
“That’s why we’re an exemplar of what it means to be a co-operative council.”
The Co-op of the Year Awards 2021 are organised by Co-operatives UK – the network for Britain’s thousands of co-operative businesses – and sponsored by The Co-operative Bank.
Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives UK said: “Huge congratulations to Telford and Wrekin Council. Taking a partnership approach to supporting the communities it serves is what co-operation is all about.
“The way the council has mobilised to support people during the Covid-19 pandemic has been collaborative, inclusive and empowering. It’s an inspiring example of co-operative values being put into action by everyone involved.”
Councillor Sharon Taylor OBE, chair of the Co-op Council’s Innovation Network, who sponsored the awards, said: “Huge congratulations to Telford & Wrekin Council on becoming the Co-operative Council of the Year 2021.
“This award provides an opportunity to highlight the innovative ways that co-operative councils have supported their communities throughout the pandemic, putting the co-op values and principles into practice.
“In Telford & Wrekin they live their vision of 'protect, care and invest' to create a better borough and the co-operative values underpin how the Council works for and in partnership with their local community. They are a worthy winner of this award.
