Bad news on libraries and one-stop-shops

Cornwall Council is in an extremely difficult position, because of massive reductions in funding from central government and rising costs. It has already agreed to make cuts of £44 million from its 2014-2015 budget.

I am extremely saddened that  the unitary authority has now announced, amongst other things, that – in order to keep to its reduced budget – it is about to start a 12-week consultation on plans to reduce opening hours at local libraries and one-stop-shops, and to cease all mobile library and mobile one stop shop services.

As a representative of the China Clay Area, I am gutted that the Clay Country mobile one-stop-shop is under threat and other rural areas are also likely to see a disproportionate decline in the provision of their local services.

Bad news on economic performance

The latest figures on economic performance, for the year 2012, have just been released. These show that the Cornish economy has slipped back, and that Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is the worst performing NUTS II region. The briefing from Cornwall Council is as follows:

“The figures from the latest Gross Value Added (GVA) release show that GVA fell in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in 2012 compared to 2011.  The UK economy grew as did most NUTS 2 regions.

“Our position has therefore deteriorated compared to other areas.   In all, six regions saw a decline in 2012 compared to 2011.   The relatively good figures comparing performance in 2012 with 1999 reflect the above average growth rates in the early part of the period.

“Our total GVA in 2012 was £7bn, down 0.3% on 2011.  The revised figures show that between 2010 and 2011 the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly economy declined by 3.3% while the UK economy grew by 4.2%.

“In per capita terms, our GVA figure for 2012 was £13,036, down 1.0% on 2011.  Per capita GVA is lower than it was in 2007; a characteristic shared with another four UK regions. 

“When indexed against the UK per capita average in 2012, the figure for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly was 61.2%, down on the 2011 figure of 62.5%.  Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is now below West Wales and the Valleys, reversing trends of the previous years.

“Between 1999 and 2012 our total output increased by 76%, the third highest of the 37 NUTS 2 regions, the UK total increased by 66%.  Our per capita increase was 60%, the fourth highest of the NUTS 2 regions.  

“Growth rates for Cornwall rose in the early period, peaking in 2002, since when growth has fallen back.

“Total GVA in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly peaked in 2010 at £7,282 million; the 2012 figure was 3.3% down, the worst performance of any NUTS 2 region.  At the same time UK GVA rose by 4.2%.    The bulk of this decline occurred in 2011 with essentially a static economy in 2012.”

At the site of the St Dennis incinerator

I have just returned from a visit to the construction site of the waste incinerator near St Dennis. As someone who opposed the scheme for many years, it was extremely saddening to see what has happened to what was once a green field.

Here are a couple of photographs to show how the works are progressing. The large structure is the bunker for waste.

Flooding incidents in St Enoder Parish

In December 2012 and March 2013, a number of properties in Fraddon, Indian Queens and Summercourt were flooded. On behalf of the Parish Council, I prepared a detailed report, which outlined the nature of the incidents and sought action from Cornwall Council to address the problems.

As a consequence of the report, improvements are being made to the road ditches and pipework along a section of the old A30, about one mile to the east of Indian Queens, in order to prevent the future flooding of two properties.

Cornwall Council has also devised a Property Level Protection (PLP) scheme across Cornwall and surveyors will soon be visiting a number of properties in Fraddon and Summercourt to explore what could be done to safeguard them against future flooding incidents.

There were also a number of incidents during the recent Christmas and New Year period – and a further report has already been sent to Cornwall Council to keep them informed about what has been happening locally.

If you have had problems with flood water in recent weeks, please get in contact with me, so that I can make representations on your behalf.

Boris Johnson is wrong

My first post-Christmas article in the Cornish Guardian looked back to a speech made by Boris Johnson in November. But it had to be said. The article was as follows:

One month before Christmas, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson delivered a lecture at an event sponsored by the Centre for Policy Studies.

It was an appalling speech. It showed little generosity of spirit, and was widely condemned – even by close colleagues in the Coalition.

The London Mayor basically declared that greed is good. He argued that it was "futile" to attempt to end inequality in society, stating: “Some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses that is, like greed, a valuable spur to economic activity.”

Johnson also mocked the 16% "of our species" with an IQ below 85, and called for more to be done to assist the economic ambitions of the 2% of the population with an IQ above 130.

He actually told the audience of well-to-do high-achievers: "The harder you shake the pack the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top. And for one reason or another – boardroom greed or, as I am assured, the natural and God-given talent of boardroom inhabitants – the income gap between the top cornflakes and the bottom cornflakes is getting wider than ever.”

Many people rightly took exception to his insensitive comments. The Deputy Prime Minister accused Johnson of “unpleasant, careless elitism” and condemned him for talking about human beings like “dogs.” And one tabloid blasted him for suggesting that “some people are just too stupid to get on in life.”

Life has been easy on Boris Johnson and he has done well out of the inequality at the heart of British society. He was very fortunate to be born into a wealthy family and – like David Cameron – educated at the elite Eton College. It was this privileged background that gave him many of the opportunities and contacts that enabled him to make a success of his life.

Indeed, I believe that it was his advantageous upbringing and family links – more so than any “natural and God-given talent” – that helped him become a prominent member of the Conservative Party, the Mayor of London and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph, for which he was paid £250,000 a year – a sum he famously once described as “chicken feed.”

Boris Johnson is wrong. Greed is not good. He conveniently forgets that one of the main causes of the financial crash was greed

And Boris Johnson is wrong on inequality. Politicians – especially the present Coalition – should be doing everything that they can to combat all forms of inequity between the haves and the have-nots.