TIME TO BE HEARD

If you didn’t have all those answers, you’d likely say no - just to be safe. In the same way, simply asking “should we get a mayor?” without properly explaining in detail what a Tier 3 deal would actually involve, wasn’t enough for the people of Cornwall. Context was lacking, so it’s no wonder the answer was no – even from those supposedly in the know, Cornwall’s elected councillors.

It’s been a frustrating few months for businesses in Cornwall; after a few exciting Levelling Up announcements initially, action from Westminster seems to have stagnated somewhat, and the Spring Budget failed to mention us at all.

Then, of course, at the beginning of April we heard that Cornwall’s mayoral position would not be progressed.

You can read my full reaction to the Devolution consultation online at businesscornwall.co.uk, but in a nutshell, if I asked you today, “should I move house?” you’d want to know what’s wrong with my house, how I would benefit from a new house, and how moving would affect members of my family.

If the mayoral consultation had started with: do you think it would be better if Cornwall had more say over allocation of our health and care budget, could decide what housing and skills development we need to keep young people here, could plan public travel and budget, and could decide if we need Tourist Tax/Congestion Zones/clean water directives; then I believe people would have grasped what was at stake and been much more enthusiastic. As it was, none of us could articulate exactly what powers we’d get, or when, and with how much more money.

But alas, in the way Cornwall always does so well, we move on with positivity and optimism. We now need to set our sights on getting the very best Tier 2+ devolved powers in a bespoke plan for Cornwall.

It’s a very uncomfortable situation to be in –we’ve lost our EU funding and now it’s looking like we’ve lost the Government’s interest as well, but we must assert ourselves and keep

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reminding Westminster that we’re here and could potentially save their bacon when it comes to their net zero target for the UK.

Through the British Chambers of Commerce, Cornwall Chamber is lobbying the Government, pushing for it support to fund sectors that need upfront investment (like Clean Energy and critical minerals) but that could transform Cornwall and indeed the UK. We have world-class tin deposits here, and yet we’re importing it by the bucket load. We know we have lithium which could help to meet UK demand, and yet we’re importing it by the bucket load. We need the Government’s attention, and we intend to get it.