Co-operative Assistance Network Limited

These audits are designed to identify strengths and weaknesses in the governance of your enterprise.

Our Governance Forensic audit checks that the mechanics of governance are working, that the legal form, governing document and policy set are optimised and that Members and Directors are properly carrying out their duties and responsibilities. Includes a policy, procedure and insurances checklist.  It is not specifically for co-operatives.

This audit can typically be carried out in 2.5 days including contact time.

Our Co-operative Code Of Governance audit measures the performance of the co-operative and its governance by its Members against the ideals of the Co-operative Principles. Using the ICA's Co-operative Principles Guidance Notes as a reference, this audit identifies specific strengths and weaknesses in the performance of the co-operative as a co-operative. This detailed review provides input to a programme of systemic improvement. The audit can be carried out on any co-operative, large or small, new or old, of any type in any country.  CAN is the only co-operative development body in the UK that offers a fully comprehensive Co-operative Code Of Governance audit.

It generally takes about 4-5 hours of contact time and the same again to analyse the data and prepare the report.

Our Workers' Co-operative Code Of Governance audit measures the performance of any Workers' Co-op in the UK against the standards of the Worker Co-operative Code. It has also proved useful to other types of co-op such as co-operative consortia that often operate to an extent like a workers' co-op.

It usually takes half a day after two hours of contact time.

Deivery times quoted above are typical and are for guidance only.  These are not price quotations.

If any of these audits may be of interest and you would like to know more, please make contact.

Our Governance Product Area Team Leader is TBA.

Some larger or older co-ops develop complex problems involving, for example, competing interests within the membership, increasingly complex relationships between the co-op and the members, uncertainty about the legal form or contractual relationships, uncertainty about ownership or rights of Members and Directors or seemingly intractable conflict. Sometimes deep problems like these are not initially recognised and only come to light as a result of investigating difficulties in other areas of work. Our troubleshooting service can help co-ops and social enterprises held back by governance issues like this identify the problems and deal with them, with an immediate emphasis on preventing further damage.

If there is conflict, our first priority is to reduce risk, negativity and disruption. If necessary, our Mediation service could be engaged.

If the problem requires historical research to establish facts, we can help with that research.

So, if your co-operative or social enterprise is bogged down in seemingly intractable problems and you think we we may be able to help, make contact.

Our Governance Troubleshooting Product Area Team Leader is Chris Funnell: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Assisting co-operatives and social enterprises with governance issues is an area in which CAN excels. We often find that problems reported to us in areas such as HR, conflict or barriers to growth are actually symptoms of a fault in the governance of the enterprise, a fault which the Members or Directors may or may not be aware of or which may have been ignored, sometimes for many years.

CAN takes the approach that good governance comes first at all stages of development. If there is a problem with governance then there will always be some level of conflict in the enterprise. An enterprise that is well governed is perceived to be more competent, reliable, honest, good to do business with, good to work for and good to be a member of.

One of our most popular training workshops is Directors Roles workshop. This includes understanding the duties and responsibilities of directorship and those of the Company or Society Secretary. This workshop is good for startups, when all the Founder Members can go through it together. The workshop can be fine tuned to the clients' needs. It can also be used by existing co-ops to train their Members for directorship.

We also run a Good Governance workshop, which takes governance to the next level and includes governance & management, informed membership, policy making and setting strategy.

We also offer a full 4 day course called Governance for Co-operative Members and Directors, which includes sessions on finance, democracy and being an excellent company/society secretary.

Social Enterprises and Community Businesses have multiple stakeholders and their governance systems are designed to balance the interests of all the stakeholder groups. We can help a startup carry out a stakeholder analysis so that you get it right from the start and we can help existing social businesses carry out a stakeholder review and help rebalance stakeholder influence.

For existing co-ops, we have a range of diagnostic tools to identify problems with governance and help draw up action plans. These include policy checklists and various Codes of Governance audits.

We have specific training and consultancy products for the governance of Credit Unions and Housing Co-ops.

Some larger or older co-ops develop complex problems involving, for example, competing interests within the membership, increasingly complex relationships between the co-op and the members, uncertainty about the legal form or contractual relationships, uncertainty about ownership or rights of Members and Directors or seemingly intractable conflict. Sometimes deep problems like these are not initially recognised and only come to light as a result of investigating difficulties in other areas of work. Our troubleshooting service can help co-ops and social enterprises held back by governance issues like this identify the problems and deal with them, with an immediate emphasis on preventing further damage.

Because CAN is and has always been a Workers' Co-operative, we are specialists in the governance of co-operatives in general and workers' co-ops in particular. We walk the walk as well as talk the talk. We understand that governance of a co-op or a community business is not the same as running a commercial company, that governance has more dimensions to it and that ultimately it all comes down to interpersonal dynamics.

We understand how the Co-operative Principles are at the heart of co-operative governance and how they are best embedded in the operating system of a co-operative.

Because we are a Social Enterprise, we understand that governance involves balancing social objectives against financial objectives and how this can be achieved in a surprisingly wide variety of legal forms and business models.

So, if we may be able to help you set your governance up correctly, train your Members for directorship or troubleshoot your governance problems, make contact.

Our Governance Product Area Team Leader is TBA.

Our Governance Troubleshooting Product Area Team Leader is Chris Funnell: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..