Police Commissioner nonsense

I have just attended a meeting of the Electoral Review Panel, where we debated a number of issues including the likely forthcoming election for a Police Commissioner for "Devon and Cornwall" in May 2012.

It was an issue that I also covered in my column in this week's Cornish Guardian. It was as follows:

At the present time, the work of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary is overseen by a Police Authority made up of ten appointed councillors and nine independent members.

But this will all change if the Government gets its way. And it will be bad news for Cornwall.

The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill is slowly winding its way through Parliament and includes a proposal for a single, elected Police Commissioner to run each police area.

It also proposes that each commissioner would be scrutinised by a Police Board, once again comprising appointed councillors, but weaker than the current authority.

Many people, including representatives of police officers, have spoken out against the politicisation of policing.

I share this view and question how making police matters into an electoral football once every four years will benefit local communities.

I also consider it wrong that so much influence could be vested into the hands of one individual.
It seems to me that the legislation put forward by the Conservative-led Government has clearly not been thought through.

It specifies that the election of commissioners should be via a form of preferential voting. And yet, only weeks ago, the Conservative Party led opposition to the introduction of a similar voting system for elections to the Westminster Parliament. What double standards.

Cornish communities would also be at an electoral disadvantage, as the population of Devon is approximately twice that of Cornwall and our local interests could easily fall below those of our neighbours.

Most ludicrously of all, it is proposed that every principal authority in Cornwall and Devon should nominate one councillor to serve on the board.

This would leave Cornwall massively under-represented. Our 530,000 residents would be expected to make do with just one board member. The Council of the Isles of Scilly would also have one representative, for its 2,000 residents.

Devon (population 1,140,000) would meanwhile have 11 people on the board – one representative for each of Devon County Council, the two unitary authorities (Plymouth and Torbay), as well as the eight district councils (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge and West Devon).

It has to be asked – how did the Government manage to come up with such a ridiculous proposal that can so distort the membership of the panel? Politicians from all parties are continuing to make representations on this issue and last week Cornwall Council formally wrote to the Home Secretary.

It remains to be seen whether central Government is listening and will act.

How not to consider an issue

I know I cannot stop writing about waste issues, but …

This morning, I attended the latest meeting of the Council’s Waste Panel. The Revised Project Plan (which would need to be agreed between the Council and SITA before the incinerator could be built) was on the agenda.

The written report did not materialise. And at 10.00, we were told that there would be a verbal report. We were also told that the report could not be finalised because of legal implications arising from the challenge to the Secretary of State’s decision from the people of St Dennis.

As councillors, we were pretty unimpressed that a topic of such complexity could be presented in this way.

And then, the officer concerned actually took out a draft of the report – that we were not allowed to see – and promptly began to read out certain sections of it verbatim.

We objected to being kept in the dark and treated like children and the meeting was adjourned. We now await sight of the written report.

Eric Pickles, confusion and the farce that is planning

The Western Morning News on Saturday featured an article on Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities.

Written by Graeme Demianyk, it was titled: "Straight-talking Eric is Tory champion of responsible localism." But nothing could have been further from the truth and comments about 'localism' and 'his' decision to sanction an incinerator at St Dennis beggar belief. The relevant extract is as follows:

Some people have questioned his decision to approve an incinerator to be built in St Dennis in the heart of Cornwall, overruling widespread local opposition to the £117 million mass burner. He is clear he does not know the details of St Dennis, as decisions can be taken in his name. But he argues that there is no contradiction with his localism agenda.

“There’s no contradiction in something that has national importance. Localism is not about people being able to say ‘no’ to a piece of national infrastructure, or regional infrastructure, that has value to people outside their neighbourhood. Localism is about local people making decisions and accepting the consequences.”

So there we have it. The incinerator was given the go-ahead by civil servants acting on behalf of Mr Pickles, who clearly knows nothing about the plant. What a farce!

Latest on the incinerator

Campaigners against the incinerator proposed for St Dennis have, this week, launched a legal challenge against the decision of Eric Pickles to approve the project.

I have not been involved in the preparation of the case, which is in the names of The Power of Cornwall, the Transition Cornwall Network and the Cornwall Sustainable Waste Network – all Rule 6 Parties at the recent Inquiry.

I understand that the challenge focuses on procedural issues relating to the Inquiry, the impact of emissions on Special Areas of Conservation within the vicinity of St Dennis and that these impacts have not been properly assessed.

But it is also the case that Cornwall Council still has to agree a Revised Project Plan with SITA, before construction of the facility can commence. There is plenty of speculation about the potential increased cost of the incinerator being in excess of £50 million.

At this point, I intend to use my position as a councillor to carefully question and challenge all aspects of the Revised Project Plan (RPP), including the cost.

I will be present at the next meeting of the Council’s Waste Panel on Monday, and the Revised Project Plan (RPP) is on the agenda.

However, the initial paperwork for the meeting was sent out over a week ago, with the RPP report listed as "to follow." As of 5.00 today, the report had not materialised and councillors are still waiting to find out details of the ongoing negotiations between the Council and SITA.

I am certainly not happy about this situation.

Rally on Lemon Quay

I attended the demonstration at Lemon Quay in Truro, which was organised in opposition to cuts to the public sector.

It was very well-attended and it was pleasing to see so many friends and MK members showing their support for workers in the public sector.

It remains important that we continue to fight the draconian cuts of the Con – Dem Government.

And it is important that we fight the Government’s determination to create a more unfair society, punishing public sector workers and less-well-off, while protecting their millionaire and banker friends.