Delay over devolution deal consultation results

Cornwall Council has delayed publication of the results of a survey on whether people would want to accept a new devolution deal and have a directly elected Mayor for Cornwall. Opponents of the proposals have criticised the delay in releasing the data from the public consultation.

The Government has negotiated a Level 3 devolution deal for Cornwall which would offer new powers over the adult education budget and £ 360 million of additional funding over 30 years. However, in order to secure the deal Cornwall Council would have to change its governance and be run by a Mayor for Cornwall directly elected by the public.

Cornwall Council launched a public consultation which sought to explain the details of the devolution deal for the public and to get their views on whether the deal should be accepted and if Cornwall should have an elected mayor. The consultation saw public meetings held across Cornwall and a survey for people to complete.

The results of that survey had been expected to be reported back to the council's Cabinet when it meets next week but that has now been delayed. Instead, the Cabinet will hold an extraordinary meeting on April 5 when it will consider the results and the next course of action.

Some councillors and members of the public have called for a referendum to be held to give residents in Cornwall a chance to decide whether they want the deal and an elected mayor. However, supporters of the deal say that this would cost around £1m.

Explaining the delay in publishing the results of the consultation Cornwall Council said in a statement: "An extraordinary Cabinet meeting will be held in April to discuss the progression of Cornwall's devolution deal. The item had been due for discussion at next week's Cabinet meeting, but the independent analysis of the public consultation data has not yet been completed, due to the considerable level of responses received during the 10-week consultation. Therefore the item will now be discussed at a special meeting on Wednesday, April 5."

Council leader Linda Taylor said: "It is important that this work is completed and included as part of the Cabinet report to ensure that it is available to be seen and considered by everyone sufficiently in advance of the meeting in accordance with our expected publication requirements.

"In addition, next week's Cabinet agenda has a large number of items on it and I want to ensure that sufficient time is available to debate what is clearly a very important topic, giving proper consideration to the documentation, allowing all to have their say, and for the matter not to be rushed."

Graham Webster from campaign group Let Cornwall Decide, which is calling for a referendum, said: "We are bitterly disappointed in the delay, the council haven't been clear about why there is this delay. They are suggesting that with everything else on the agenda they want more time to consider the results.

"I have been told, and others have been told, by the council that they are following a strict timetable. It is really disappointing that we are falling at the first hurdle on that timetable.

"This is a very contentious matter, people want to know exactly what the consultation has revealed. The chief executive and the leader would have known within minutes of the consultation closing what the results were, the people of Cornwall want to know what that looks like as well and here we are, a month after the consultation closed and we still don't know."

Mr Webster said that he would be attending the extraordinary Cabinet meeting and said he expected many other people would as well. He added: "Whichever way you fall, whether you support a mayor or not, people are interested to know the outcome of the consultation to see how others are looking at it.

"We want to know if this deal is going ahead and whether we will have a mayor or not. Let Cornwall Decide is calling for a referendum, we want there to be good and proper time to organise a referendum in a right and proper way. Any further delay will not help that.

"I am a bit sick of it really in so far as very often the council have quoted the need to follow this strict timetable but with these consultation results they have ignored their own timetable and we have this delay. It doesn't bode well for the rest of the process."

Perran Moon, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Camborne and Redruth, also criticised the delay in releasing the results of the consultation and specifically the response to the question about whether Cornwall should accept the devolution deal and an elected mayor.

He said: "I find the further delay of the publication of the results of Q11 deeply disturbing. You can only speculate as to why Cornwall Council has sat on the results for weeks now. They asked the Cornish people a critically important question about changes to our governance. The results are in. There is absolutely no reason why the results of the question about a Mayor for Cornwall should not be released to the public immediately."

A report on the consultation results is now expected to be published the week before the extraordinary Cabinet meeting which will be held at 10 am on Wednesday, April 5 at New County Hall in Truro. The meeting will also be webcast live on the council's website.