Mutual Benefit published by Cabinet Office

Last week, the Cabinet Office published Mutual Benefit, which sets out how it will accelerate opportunities for mutuals to develop and flourish across three key areas of public services. The report explicitly cites our Engagement Ethic, published in December 2009, and seeks to develop a practical strategy for building mutualism within public services.  For example, the report says that 'government will work with Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts to develop detailed proposals on mandating community governance in the Right to Request Assurance Framework'. Alongside this practical work, it's also interesting to see that mutualism is continuing to attract political attention.  For example, the Guardian last week suggested that the manifesto would include 'proposals that would give football fans first option to buy their clubs when they were put up for sale and require clubs to hand over a stake of up to 25% to supporters' groups'. By John Craig