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8 The CoSERG solution – regional powers and community government [p.19-21]

rpwills

Updated: Jan 28


The final extract from the report looks at a solution to the question of what would be the best form of government for Cornwall. Drawing on the evidence and discussion in the earlier sections it suggested that Cornwall needed a regional, Cornwall-wide tier and then a community level. Details of the reasons for the Local Government  Review, the issues affecting Cornwall and the need for a radical change can be found in earlier posts.

“The key aims of the post-Maastricht European Union are subsidiarity (decisions to be taken as near to the people as possible), transparency (government to be as open as possible) and democracy (the decision-making process to involve as many groups as possible). While these concepts may well exist more at the level of rhetoric than reality and while they are grotesquely misunderstood from within the dominant English political discourse, they remain useful criteria for assessing possible forms of government for Cornwall.
 
We would suggest that these criteria demand that a balance be sought. Government should be as near and as open to the people as possible while at the same time allowing for a strong and rational strategic response when needed.
 
Regional government [p.19]
To provide a clear strategic response, overcome the current crisis of representation and maximise the economic development potential inherent in Cornish culture there must be a Cornwall-wide tier of government reflecting the territorial identity. To bridge the democratic deficit, end unacceptable over-government and recognise Cornwall’s historic experience this Cornwall-wide government must be given regional powers and be more than a mere county council.  This tier could encompass the present strategic powers of Cornwall County Council (for example in areas such as economic development, environment, planning, health and welfare, education, fire service) plus much of the overlapping strategic policy-making currently arrogated to agencies, trusts and quangos that operate in Cornwall but are mostly centred outside.
 
This regional government would be a streamlined authority.  As its purpose would be strategic, it should, in the interests of efficiency, have no more than 40to 50 elected members.  These regional councillors could concentrate on the strategic overview and vision that Cornwall needs, to this end we would also suggest that two further reforms are required.  First, that councillors should be elected by proportional representation, preferably a singe transferable vote system based on five to ten large constituencies.  This would help avoid parochialism and allow groups that have dynamic views about Cornwall’s future to be represented. At present many strands of thought are excluded from the political process by an archaic first past the post electoral system that leads to party selection and mediocrity.  Second, continuing to rely on amateur part-time councillors for strategic policy-making is an outdated Victorian concept.  Payment for councillors would attract a better calibre of candidate.
 
Reforming the structure and content of Cornish government would be the first step towards creating a government that was really open to local people and that put Cornish interests first. 
 
 Better councillors and a more aware public opinion might then ensure that local government officers began to ‘think Cornish’.  Its now well known that the policy networks that local government officers are part of mean that key policy making tends to come from non-local  policy-communities. [See for example, Rhodes, 1988]. The powerful non-Cornish interests that structure our policies have to be replaced by local government that is rooted in local communities and not UK-wide policy networks.

 

Such a government  structure would have the clout to put an effective case externally… and yet at the same time bang heads together internally, providing a focus for the innovative policy-making that Cornwall so desperately needs and encouraging the partnerships with the private sector and development agencies that would. result in putting the interests of Cornwall first
 
Community government
At the same time, in order to encourage local involvement, strengthen local democracy and guarantee accountability and quality of service provision we propose a tier of local government below the regional level. This would decentralise non-strategic decision –making to the lowest possible levels. The six District Councils should be abolished and replaced with a tier of community councils which would provide for a vigorous grass-roots democracy and build on and encourage the sense of identity of local communities.  These community councils would be frontline agencies ensuring a continuing direct link between elected councillors and local people.  We envisage some 20 democratically elected Community Councils.  Their boundaries might take account of historical factors (for example the old Hundred boundaries) together with economic links (travel to work areas) as well as school and shopping catchment areas.  This tier of proposed Community Councils would reflect the dispersed nature of Cornish settlement patterns. In addition we suggest that the exact boundaries of such councils should emerge from grass-roots discussions as far as possible, thus reflecting community desires than imposing yet another top-down blueprint.
 
It must be made clear that the Community Councils, will not, unlike the existing District Councils, confusingly duplicate the functions of higher tiers of government. They will not be min-county or district councils.  On the contrary they will be solely concerned with service e delivery and quality control.  They would operate in close partnership with the Cornwall-wide regional authority.  They would act as the primary sourced of information for the public for both themselves and the Cornwall-wide authority (together with agencies responsible to it). This could involve seconding of officers and eve shared posts.  It might also be rather similar to the ‘one-stop shops' for business set up by the DTI, the key aim of which is to 'eliminate' customer confusion cause by the current profusion of agencies and services.  Of course, out suggested framework would not suffer from the same problems as we envisage a drastic rationalisation of the current chaotic and inefficient set-up. 
 
We believe that only this solution of regional and community government
 
a)     recognises the potential of the Cornish identity and its regional character
b)    avoids institutionalising parochialism
c)      encourages that clear and coherent strategic response that is especially important given Cornwall’s situation on the European periphery and
d)      encourages the flowering of a vigorous grass-roots community democracy."
 
Cornish Social and Economic Research Group, (1994), ‘Empowering Cornwall – the best government for the region and its communities’. [p.19-21].

 

 


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