Western Morning News (Saturday)
Devolution of power from Whitehall to local leaders
BEING a peninsula creates unique economic challenges. Our industries must transport their goods further to market, which adds costs. Recruiting can be even more of a challenge.
A lack of profitability means average wages can be lower. When it comes to further transport infrastructure, the farther west you go the fewer MPs there are left making the case for investment, and government departments such as the Treasury often fail to understand the dynamics of local economies. For all these reasons, the case for Cornwall and economic investment in Cornwall has to be made repeatedly and consistently.
Back in 2019, the Government gave a clear commitment to replace the cumbersome and overly-restrictive EU structural funds with our own UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) once Brexit was complete. This was intended to support industry in poorer parts of the country and to ensure that we saw new industries and better-paid jobs in places such as Cornwall, rather than just seeing prosperity collect around the Home Counties.
I campaigned to leave the EU and I want us to decide our own regional policy and have the freedom to design grant schemes that really work for places such as Cornwall. However, with the power to set our own policies of economic regeneration comes the responsibility to get it right.
Earlier this month the Minister for Levelling Up confirmed the SPF will match EU structural funds, pound for pound. This will begin with a £132 million share for Cornwall of the £2.6 billion package for 2022-23 and increase by 2024-25 once the final EU funds have been wound down, at which point the UKSPF will match the average of previous EU funding each year.
This new funding will be tailored to Cornwall’s needs, bring additional powers and more investment. Cornwall Council has announced its ambitious plan for sustainable growth and regeneration called Prosperous Cornwall 2050. This sets out the council’s plan to tackle housing shortages in Cornwall, as well as expanding our transport infrastructure and making Cornwall a prime environment to start and grow a business. In addition to the UKSPF, the Levelling Up white paper set out a new vision for Cornwall by inviting us to be one of the nine counties to negotiate a new County Deal.
This will give local leaders more control over areas such as transport, skills and infrastructure and is part of the largest devolution of power from Whitehall to local leaders in modern times.
This is further boosted by the £23.7m Town Deal package for Camborne, which is supporting projects such as the Fibre Park tech hub and other projects regenerating areas in the town centre which will make a genuine difference and are a welcome boost for the town.