Concerns over lack of accountability for Cornwall LEP

Last Tuesday, Cornwall Council unanimously agreed a Lib Dem motion in favour of a Cornwall Local Enterprise Partnership where we would invite the Council of the Isles of Scilly to take part (but couldn't take their involvement for granted). We also made clear the need for genuine democratic accountability.

Since then, it appears that some people from the business community have been trying to take control of the project and the Council's own website appears to take the involvement of the Isles of Scilly for granted.

So I have written to Council Leader Alec Robertson asking him to make sure that the preparations for the LEP follow the spirit as well as the letter of what we agreed at Full Council.

In my letter, I say:

The Council's consultation on the LEP seems to take the involvement of the Council of the Isles of Scilly for granted. The Council was quite specific in agreeing that this involvement cannot be taken for granted. The Council of the Isles of Scilly should be invited to participate and we need to make the case to them for their participation. Could you confirm what approach has been made to the CIoS and what response has been received? If no approach has yet been made, could you ensure that the statements being made by Cornwall Council are adjusted to reflect this?

We stressed in our motion that the LEP should be a partnership between the Council(s) and business. It would be entirely wrong, in our view, for the LEP to be dominated by business or for those who do not have democratic accountability nonetheless to have a veto on the work of the LEP. Could you assure me that Cornwall Council, whilst continuing to forge strong partnerships with business to make the LEP as resilient as possible, is preparing a bid that retains democratic accountability at its heart?

A Cornwall (and Isles of Scilly) LEP can be a strong voice for enterprise and development in Cornwall, but it must be accountable to the people of Cornwall.