Village News

Christmas Lights
Home » Cornwall » Politics in Cornwall » 240815 | Did you know you have until Monday to express your views about “home rule” for Cornwall? via Cornwall Reports

240815 | Did you know you have until Monday to express your views about “home rule” for Cornwall? via Cornwall Reports

Submitted by GoogleNews and ... on Thu, 15/08/2024 - 11:36.

Did you know you have until Monday to express your views about “home rule” for Cornwall?

Posted By Julia Penhaligon on 15th August 2024

By Julia Penhaligon

Cornwall’s town and parish councils have only a few more days to respond to County Hall’s devolution “White Paper.”

The Cornwall Association of Local Councils is trying to frame a response before 19th August.  There are more than 200 minor local authorities across Cornwall and many do not meet during August.

Anyone who wants their local council to respond had better hurry.  The “consultation” has not been widely publicised.

Cornwall Council’s ruling Conservatives are seeking a “go it alone” model of governance with many more powers devolved from Whitehall to County Hall.

The council’s proposals include a massive strengthening of the Cornish language, with the power to insist on parity with English.  At the moment only a few hundred people can speak Cornish.  According to the most recent census, about 80% of people in Cornwall identify as English or British.

There are also major concerns about the future of the National Health Service and standards of healthcare if Cornwall Council took control.

County Hall also wants the power to issue its own “workforce visas” – but has so far stopped short of demanding border controls and checkpoints at the River Tamar.

Some town and parish councils may feel that County Hall’s ideas would be even worse for democracy than dealing directly with central government.

 

The difficulty of undertaking a coherent and robust public consultation about devolution has been exemplified by Truro City Council, whose 24 councillors last month agreed to leave it to the mayor and clerk to frame a response on their behalf.

One idea suggested at last month’s Truro City Council meeting was the reintroduction of a Cornwall police force, divorced from Devon.

The government’s position, at least initially, is that it wants councils to consider combining with their neighbours in return for a seat at a new Council for the Nations and Regions.  This could mean a Devon and Cornwall combined authority.  But while councils in Devon are talking to each other, so far none has approached Cornwall.

The issue is expected to make progress before the end of next month.

‹ 210211 | Cornwall Council Cabinet recommends budget which invests in residents' priorities | 1.99%, +3% Gov adult SC £1.52/weekup240904 | Airbnb calls for new short-term rules in Cornwall ›