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Cornwall becomes first county to receive devolved powers

The government has granted Cornwall the first of its new county deals, devolving powers over health and social care integration, bus services and economic development to the unitary council.

The government says the devolution deal would:

  •     Give Cornwall Council powers for franchising and improving local bus services
  •     Help Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly councils create a plan to bring health and social care services together
  •     Enable the council to choose what projects will see millions of pounds of investment
  •     Give the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) more input on boosting local skills
  •     Make it easier for the LEP to integrate national and local services to help local firms grow

However, the devolved powers fall short of the powers requested by Cornwall, which also included using a share of fuel duty paid locally to help maintain roads; retaining a share of stamp duty to finance affordable housing and taking control of government-owned land to provide social housing; retaining part of the income from right-to-buy sales to invest in building new homes.

In its 'Case for Cornwall' strategy, the council also wanted to gain greater influence over the development of electrical grid and geothermal energy, have more local control over coastal protection and a fairer funding deal. The council launched its ‘Case for Cornwall’ last year for consultation and this week the Independent and Liberal Democrat-led administration approved a final version for negotiation with ministers.

Nevertheless, the leader of Cornwall Council, John Pollard welcomed the government;s announcement.  "This gives Cornwall greater powers over public sector funding. This is the first stage of a longer journey towards delivering the full case for Cornwall," he said. “Cornwall has the opportunity to develop a devolution deal which will provide a blueprint for other areas.  This is no short term fix. We are serious about a different approach to economic growth and strong communities.”

Earlier devolution deals have all been with conurbations, and other counties are watching Cornwall’s progress to see how receptive the government will be to devolving powers to rural areas.