Speedwatch

This evening, Jade Farrington and I joined the Launceston Police Cadets and police staff to carry out a community speedwatch event on Western Road.

An event like this is based around education. The cadets get to see what speeding looks like and the drivers who go too fast are educated about the dangers that speeding poses. There aren't any tickets handed out for drivers who are going just too fast, but they are reminded by the cadets and officers about the problems and dangers of speeding.

Whilst we were with the cadets, we saw about a dozen cars pulled over. All but one that I saw were doing just over the limit. The driver who was doing 44mph got a more serious talking to from the police officer who was with us.

I know that the police team can sometimes go out with school groups and residents associations to do a similar exercise. It is particularly helpful in showing the difference between cars that really are speeding and those that simply give the impression of doing so. It's amazing what a loud exhaust does to give the impression of speed. If you are a member of a group that is interested in such an exercise, contact the local community policing team.


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Tory Police Commissioner's £650 per month rent paid for by taxpayers (even though he could stay at the office for free)

It seems that the Conservative Police Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall has decided to help himself to £650 per month of taxpayer money as a housing allowance. Tony Hogg says he needs the cash to be able to stay near Police HQ in Exeter (he comes from Helston). The full story is in the Mail on Sunday.

The trouble is that not only is this yet another drain on police resources, but it is totally unnecessary. The police HQ has ensuite visitor accommodation designed for overnight stays and which was used by members of the old police authority. However Mr Hogg has said that he does not think it is 'appropriate' for him. Instead, he wanted money to be able to stay with chums at a local naval base.

It seems that Tony Hogg's first instinct is to put his hand in the taxpayer's pocket and expect them to pay for his whims. He seems to forget he is already getting £85,000 a year of our money.

Modern technology means that he doesn't need to be sitting next to the Chief Constable or to his own personal staff to be able to do the job properly. He had the option to base his office anywhere in Devon or Cornwall but he chose Exeter. If he doesn't like the idea of commuting then he could use the free accommodation on offer. Or he could well afford to buy or rent his own flat in the city rather than charging accommodation to the taxpayer.

Taxpayers were promised that the new police commissioners would save money compared to the old police authorities. But Tony Hogg has already taken on more staff than under the old system and has spent a further quarter of a million on consultants and agency staff. This latest revelation adds insult to injury. In the past week, Mr Hogg wrote to the government asking for more money for frontline police officers in our area. How can he be taken seriously when he is diverting money which could be used for bobbies on the beat and using it to pad out his £85,000 salary with unnecessary expenses.

I have written to Mr Hogg today asking him to justify the expenses. If, as the newspaper article claims, he has chosen to ignore free accommodation then I believe that he should be paying for any alternative out of his own pocket.

UPDATE - Tony Hogg has responded via his own website here.

UPDATE 2 - The chair of the Police Federation in Devon and Cornwall has had called Mr Hogg's assertions 'nonsense'.

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Why handing control of the Fire and Rescue Service to the Police Commissioner would be bad for Cornwall

It seems that free-spending Conservative Police Commissioner Tony Hogg is keen to expand his empire. He has welcomed a proposal by the Home Secretary to explore the idea of police commissioners taking over the running of fire and ambulance services. Chancellor George Osborne also gave a hint of such a move in his spending review announcement yesterday.

I don’t know that much about the ambulance services, but Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is a hugely specialised team which has developed brilliantly under Cornwall Council. It has new leadership and was taken off a list of those services seen to be failing after a lot of hard work by the authority and staff. The idea of centralising it to an Exeter HQ (and merging with Devon) would mean the loss of local accountability and, I fear, a less responsive service.

Whilst most of local government has made significant savings in administration in recent years, Mr Hogg has overseen further bloating of his own administration team. He has, rightly, made the point that local police services will be affected by the latest round of cuts. But his arguments are holed below the waterline given his own profligacy. I can't help but wonder whether taking over fire or ambulance services would be simply an excuse for another round of consultants and more 'chums on seats'.

At the moment, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is run by the council and accountable to the public through local elected members. The debate about local fire stations and service levels is one which the public can see and take part in. My fear is that, if the Police Commissioner’s empire is allowed to expand, we will lose that accountability and decisions will be taken in a private office in Exeter.

Led by my colleague Sue James, a cross party group of Cornwall councillors has proposed a motion for the next council meeting opposing the centralisation of fire services.

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Launceston Mayoral Induction

Today saw the ceremony to induct Dave Gordon into office as Launceston's new mayor. Normally, this would have been a mayor making ceremony in May, but it was delayed this year because of the elections. Dave has actually been in office for a month now.

All the bling and formality was still observed with visiting mayors from around East Cornwall and West Devon and the great and good of the town on parade.

Dave made a passionate speech about his pride in our town and the need for many organisations (and Cornwall Council in particular) to start to treat Launceston and its residents more fairly. He talked about making sure that developments happened with the consent of the local community and weren't done to us. He asked, in particular, for action on the lack of public transport in our area - particularly services to link us with the rest of Cornwall.

Also formally starting his term of office is Brian Hogan who takes up the reins as the Deputy Mayor. I wish both he and Dave the best of luck for their term of office.

There were three awards of appreciation handed out. These are to recognise significant contributions over a long period of time to the community. They went to:

• Ann Brown who has been the bedrock of the Launceston Town Band for many years and, in particular, for her work to support younger band members;
• Keith Roberts who was the person behind both the Foodbank and Money Advice Centre - seeing the need, raising the funds, starting the organisation and recruiting volunteers;
• The Rotary Club for all the work they do but, especially, the Rotary Shop which has raised more than £70,000 for local projects and clubs since it started.

Congratulations to all of them for their hard work and well deserved awards.

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Link Road development to be debated next week

The proposed supermarket, hotel, housing and fast food development on Launceston's Link Road will be debated next Thursday by the council's Strategic Planning Committee. The meeting will take place in Truro but be webcast from 10am for those who cannot make it in person.

This has been a proposal a long time in the making. The principle of employment use south of the Link Road is one which has been accepted for some time. But some of the details of this scheme have proved particularly controversial. These include the proposal to cut through the Millennium Avenue of oak trees in two places and the proportion of the site given over to housing.

The council cannot dictate the application that is made - it can only pass a yes or no judgement on what comes before it. In this case the application is a detailed one for the supermarket and major highways works. But the rest - hotel, housing etc - is all in 'outline'. In other words, only the principle is being debated and the details will be the subject of a further planning application in the future.

I will be attending the meeting next week as will Jade Farrington, the councillor for Launceston South - including the proposed development area.

Incidentally, the papers for this debate include details of some of the things that the developer is proposing to give to the town is the proposal is approved - so called section 106 contributions. As I understand it, the details given are an early draft rather than the final proposal.

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What the Spending Review means for Cornwall

Today's spending review is a significant milestone in the work of the government and includes some important news (both positive and negative) for Cornwall.

The headline for Cornwall Council is a 10% cut in government grant for 2015/16. This is the amount that we had expected and been planning for, but that does not make it any easier to deal with. This will equate to around £20 million of further cuts on top of the £19 million we are making in the 2014/15 budget.

Personally, I am disappointed that Eric Pickles did not stand up stronger for local government. We provide many key services to the most vulnerable in society yet we are being expected to shoulder the harshest cuts. I can understand why the government wanted to ringfence the NHS, overseas aid and the schools budget in this process. But why not treat social care for the elderly and support for the homeless in the same way? Why is local government facing a 10% cut whilst Culture, Media and Sport only being asked to find 7%?

The Chancellor announced that he had extended the council tax freeze for another two years. That is all very well, but we do not yet know what money there will be to finance such a freeze. Two years ago we got a grant equivalent to 2.5% in return for a freeze. Last year, it was a grant equivalent to just 1%. This year we do not know what grant (if any) is on offer. Only when we do can members consider whether a freeze is a valid option for Cornwall Council.

Over the last four years, Cornwall Council has saved around £160 million in organisational costs - much achieved because of the move to unitary status. These have allowed us to avoid having to make sweeping front line service cuts. But be under no illusion. We cannot make these savings over again. Whilst we will always seek to make savings through efficiencies, we cannot manage all of the necessary cuts in this way. We will have to be cutting frontline services.

The new administration is determined to consult with all 123 councillor and with the people of Cornwall in deciding where those cuts should be made. We want to safeguard services which are most valued and relied upon by our residents and which protect the most vulnerable. But that still means some tough choices have to be made.

In other areas, there was better news.

• Extra money in the form of the Pupil Premium will mean more cash for schools.
• The cut in water bills in Cornwall which was introduced last year has been extended. This is £50 per year off the water bill of everyone served by South West Water and is recognition of the disproportionate amount we have to pay for cleaning up our coastline. Congratulations to Dan Rogerson for his work on this.
• There will be an extra £3 billion for new housing and more capital programme money will be announced tomorrow. We hope this will be available to invest in much needed projects in Cornwall.
• More than £9.5 billion for roads and rail projects. Again, we hope that this money reaches the far South West, and we think that works on the A303 will be part of this spending.

As ever, there will be much more detail to come out in the coming days and weeks.

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Matthew Taylor speaks out on problems of second homes in Cornwall

Full marks to (Lord) Matthew Taylor for his interview on Radio 4 this morning on the problems of second homes in Cornwall.

Among other things, Matthew advocated a cap on the proportion of second homes in some areas and called for change of use planning permission to be required when a primary residence was converted to become a second home.

Cornwall has a very high number of second homes and areas have suffered as a result. Many coastal communities have become so over-run with second homes that their viability as functioning villages has gone. The village post office, pub and school have gone and the village shop cannot really continue to exist when many homes are only occupied for two months a year.

The council has already ended the discount that second home owners get on their council tax and has ended the right to vote for occupiers of purely recreational second homes. We have also supported the idea that change of use permission should be needed when a primary residence becomes a second home.

Unfortunately, the government has so far failed to back our argument but we will continue to make the case and stand up for the viability of all our communities.


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