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Abstract

A relatively recent development has been the growth in social co-operatives with primary purposes that shift the focus away from member needs to benefitting a wider public or community. This shift in focus leads to a different set of accountabilities from those associated with traditional member-benefit co-operatives, central to which is a social co-operative’s accountability for its public, or community, benefit. This paper explores co-operative community benefit reporting within a UK context. In particular the paper explores public/community benefit reporting requirements for different co-operative legal
forms. Similarities and differences between reporting requirements and guidance are highlighted and possible implications for a co-operative annual reporting framework are discussed. The paper concludes with implications for reporting and areas for further research.

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