The Industrial and Provident Societies Partnership Act 1852, also known (somewhat unjustifiably) as Slaney's Act,[1] was a significant legislative landmark in the establishment of the co-operative movement in the United Kingdom.
Prior to 1852, co-operative societies had protected their members capital by registering under the Friendly Societies Act 1846.[2] However the act specified protection only for purchases, not for sales; so the co-operative societies were forced to use a legal fiction of dubious merit to cover themselves when selling, and it was this that brought home the need for a new statute to regularise their position.[3]
John Ludlow played an important role in promoting the Act of 1852.[4] He had initially proposed a comparable Bill for Whig passage in 1851; but was blocked by Henry Labouchere at the Board of Trade.[5] The following year Disraeli persuaded his colleagues that promoting such social reform would be politically advantageous for the Tories, as well as offering a route for working-class energies to be incorporated into society;[6] and the Bill passed into law.
The Act not only provided a legal framework for the co-operative movement, but also specified much of its future direction - for example laying down the principle that up to one-third of profits could be shared among members, the rest being used to build up the business.[7]
