Fair Funding for Cornwall

On the same day that the leadership of Cornwall Council announced plans for budget cuts, I persuaded the members of the Council to back calls for a Commission to investigate the underfunding of public services in Cornwall.

The motion to Tuesday’s Full Council meeting, which had cross-party support, noted that vital public services in Cornwall receive less funding than other parts of the United Kingdom, called for a Commission and for the Council to produce a briefing document which could be forwarded to central government.

Alec Robertson, the Conservative Leader of the Council, sought to add an extra section about the ongoing work of Cornish MPs but also to remove the reference to the Commission. I agreed to add the extra paragraph, but held firm on the call for a Commision. His resultant amendment was defeated by 42 to 34. Members from all parties, and the Cabinet, opposed the amendment.

All members supported the main motion when the key vote on the proposal was taken.

The text of the motion as agreed was as follows:

This Council:

Notes that hospitals, schools and vital public services in Cornwall receive less funding than other parts of the United Kingdom.

Notes that public sector cuts will have an especially adverse impact on Cornwall, if we continue to receive less than our fair share of government expenditure in the first instance.

Notes the actions of the six Cornish MPs, resulting in Andrew George MPs adjournment debate, and agrees to support our MPs in lobbying for fairer funding for Cornwall in relation to (i) the 2011/2012 financial settlement and (ii) the revision of Local Government finance, recently announced by the Coalition Government.

Writes to the new Coalition Government to seek a Commission to investigate the full extent of the underfunding of Cornwall, similar to the recent Holtham Commission in Wales.

Agrees to produce a briefing document, outlining our broad concerns about the underfunding of Cornwall, which can also be forwarded to central government.

The Council had earlier unanimously agreed a motion to work towards the setting up of a Local Enterprise Partnership for Cornwall.

Cuts at Cornwall Council

On Tuesday, the leadership of Cornwall announced plans to deal with projected 30% cuts in Government funding. The Chief Executive has made the following statement within Cornwall Council:

“The headlines are that we are taking decisive action now to ensure we protect essential services for the people of Cornwall. We will be setting our own emergency budget for 2011 in November, soon after the Government's comprehensive spending review.

“We are anticipating cuts of around 30% in Government funding over the next four years which means we need to find £110 million savings from 2011 onwards. Our message is clear - we need to act speedily to protect services and jobs. If we don't, it will lead to more difficult decisions having to be made in the future. We want to make decisions ourselves now so that we are not in the position of being told where to make cuts further down the line.

“As I have already said in previous messages, jobs are undoubtedly going to be affected. Pay and wages make up around half of the Council's budget and current estimates suggest that around 2,000 jobs will go over the next few years.”

Cornish Constitutional Convention

It turned out that I did speak at Saturday’s Cornish Constitutional Convention Conference after all. I became the substitute for Conservative MP Sarah Newton who was poorly and could not attend.

Ten years after the formation of the Convention (see above), I felt it to be important that we celebrated the dedication of the many people, who have campaigned so hard for devolution to Cornwall over the last decade and for the many years before that.

In particular, in my short speech, I focussed on the Declaration for a Cornish Assembly campaign that was launched by MK in 2000 and carried forward in partnership with the Convention. It remains a massive achievement to have collected 50,000 declarations demanding greater Cornish home rule and is the bedrock on which we can build.

The BBC’s Graham Smith has already blogged about the Conference on http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith. The event was also filmed and will be accessible on Cornwall Council's website from Tuesday or Wednesday.

Commenting on the non-appearance of Sarah Newton however, Graham Smith did note that the panel “ended up being five middle-aged, middle class blokes.” Graham ... at 43, I may be getting on a bit but I will never be anything other than a working-class chap from Cornwall.

Eco-town - Vision and Principles, Principles, Principles, ...

It is well-known that I am sceptical about the eco-town planned for the St Austell / China Clay Area. And today, I had the “pleasure” to chair the latest meeting of Cornwall Council’s Planning Policy Panel.

We were presented with a working draft of the Vision and Principles for the development. The seven key identified principles were:

Principle 1 - Symbiotic Relationship with St Austell
Mutually beneficial relationship between the Eco-town, St Austell and villages

Principle 2 - Vibrant Hearts
Concentrate most intensive uses at most accessible point.

Principle 3 - Sense of Place
Identity of the place, open spaces, wilderness and distinctive character to influence public realm and character

Principle 4 - Balanced and Empowered Community
An inclusive community for all ages

Principle 5 - Continued Innovation
Develop opportunities for innovation in the areas of ecology, economy, social, built environment and green technology

Principle 6 - Integrate Place with Natural Systems
Give meaning to the eco in eco-town by combining urban and natural fabric and raised awareness

Principle 7 - Partnership Working & Delivery
Bringing together strategic partners and organisations.

At the meeting, some of my colleagues were very supportive of the eco-town initiative but others were more critical. Obviously when faced with such “planning” speak as shown above, I has a lot to say.

But whether we like it or not, the principle of an eco-town near St Austell is contained within a Planning Policy Statement produced by the last Labour Government. The principle of the development is therefore established in “national” planning policy, unless the new Coalition revokes the relevant PPS.

I have heard no indication that this is going to happen and it is clear that the main role of the Planning Policy Panel is likely to be challenging the direction and resultant detail of the five component parts of the proposal, rather than the actual principle of the development itself.

A response from Bert Biscoe

This morning I have received an email from Bert Biscoe in response to yesterday's blog about his articles in the Western Morning News.

Dear Dick,

I have read your remarks. I apologise to Mebyon Kernow, which I have always known to be inclusive and outward-looking in both its principles and its activities. It was not my intention to imply anything negative about the Party, or indeed, any of the mainstream Parties and politicians at work in Cornwall. You are right that the quote might be taken to infer an allegation of exclusivity. It was clumsy of me.

I'm sure that you would agree, however, that there are self-proclaimed 'nationalists' and others (eg 'national liberationists!') who attempt to perpetrate a confused ideology of separatism, exclusivity and negativity, whose activities and statements often bring Cornwall and Cornish people into disrepute and undermine the principles and objectives which, in so many spheres, you and I and many others across the political spectrum share. I'm sure that you share my contempt for such views.

I would be happy if you care to print this statement in the blog. Unfortunately, it is too late to rectify it in the WMN but I have dispatched the above as a letter to the editor.