Minister for civil society Nick Hurd today launched 3BM, the country's first local government staff-led mutual in Hammersmith and Fulham LBC town hall.

Nick Hurd, who as minister for civil society at the Cabinet Office has oversight for the Coalition's mutual programme praised the West London tri-borough initiative - designed to provide support services to schools - as an ‘ice-breaker' which would encourage the creation of further local government employee-led enterprises.

According to Mr Hurd around 120 public sector staff mutual projects spanning a wide range of areas - civil service, health, care libraries youth services and fire brigades - are currently live with a potential contract value of around £1bn annually.

Mr Hurd said the first local government spin out is ‘enormously symbolic and significant' because the tremendous pressure local government budgets face has forced many authorities to rethink service delivery. 

‘The mutualisation option is a real one,' said Mr Hurd.  ‘The underlying reality, which is quite exciting, is that each new one sends a signal to the system as to what can be achieved.'

Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham, Cllr Nick Botterill said the West London tri-borough initiative would allow other councils to benefit from the knowledge of experience it had gained as a Cabinet Office mutual pathfinder project.

‘Sometimes you have to be first out of the blocks, said Cllr Botterill. ‘This is an example there are advantages to doing that.'