There is lots going on in the world and it seems almost a lifetime since we got a new Prime Minister but the issues that will impact the day-to-day lives of Cumbrians seem to be drifting along under the radar.
On April 1 2023 we will wake up to the brave new world of local Government with the majority of locally delivered services being delivered by our two new unitary authorities.
Cumberland will cover the west of the old county, stretching from Millom to the Borderlands with Westmorland and Furness stretching from Barrow-in-Furness to Alston and the Northumberland border.
But let’s leave aside the geography and focus on the impending changes.
The plans for two, unitary, authorities for Cumbria, has always had question marks. The two authorities will be too small to take on some of the key functions normally associated with local delivery.
The police, for example, will remain Cumbria but if Cumbria wasn’t big enough to sustain an effective social services, what chance two?
Of course, while having two councils to replace seven (six district plus the county) may take away unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, it will inevitably remove decision making from “local” to a council chamber nowhere near you.
Both new authorities are up and running in shadow format with a shadow council elected in May, chief executives for each in place and nice websites with draft council plans with lots of ‘working with our communities’ and asking for feedback on these draft plans.
What do they expect? Apart from the odd nerd, or indeed your local Cumbria Cat, who is going to trawl through these mountains of what, currently, amount to little more than airy fairy soundbites.
For example, the Cumberland Draft Plan amounts to 12 pages of pretty pictures and not one of any of the problem areas, no pictures of challenging social housing or dog poo, no potholed roads and no council buildings in need of repair. They do have a snazzy logo which probably cost more than most people’s gas bills but if you are looking for detail, look elsewhere!
Surprise, surprise, the Westmorland and Furness draft council plan has all the pretty pictures with any casual observer left thinking the area is boundless countryside full of happy, smiling faces. Nothing about the challenges of social housing in the central and southern lakes, but lots about high quality housing with a zero-carbon footprint.
Westmorland and Furness have recognised how local people engage with place by offering what sounds awfully like three headquarters – Barrow, Kendal, and Penrith. But that begs the question, is chief executive Sam Plum going to have an office in each?
However, as well as having the grand plan in technicolour over 12 pages, they have gone for separating out “key decisions” and scheduling when these will be made.
Heaven forbid a shadow councillor might consider something not dictated to by the calendar.
So, what, from their websites, do we surmise, are going to be the major changes from 2023 onwards? Cumberland is planning to deliver excellent services. Well, for most Cumbrians that will be a novelty. Our local government doesn’t have a track record of excellence – we have gritters with names, but we still lose fillings from our teeth on most local journeys.
Westmorland and Furness sell soundbites – ‘great for all ages and communities’, ‘great for sustainable growth’, ‘great for future generations’ – and they have a vision, ‘a great place to live, work and thrive – now and in the future.
Clearly, by April 1 next year, both councils will need to get down the reality of running local government and delivering the very real services each and everyone of us relies on.
We want to know that our bins will be emptied, that they tackle the challenges of planning so that the right houses or businesses are built in the places that most need them. A representative local government that isn’t hidden in a myriad of committees or left in the hands of the precious few as we saw in the cabinet style of authority in the very recent past.
And speaking of consolidating power in few hands, may we see a mayor of Cumbria, a person that will have more than just a foot in both camps?
Let us be clear, Government in the UK is not about empowering local communities to take control of their area, it is about establishing control with political parties few of us are members of (the Cat isn’t) fed a diet of dogma that stems from the elites of Eton, via philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford, to the think tanks of London.
With six months to go before this local government juggernaut hits us, beware the PR spin, hope for the best and plan for the worst.
- Do you agree with Cumbria Cat? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Email admin@cumbriacrack.com and let us know!
About Cumbria Cat
Born in Cumberland and, from 2023, will be back living in Cumberland, having spent most of the past 50 years in some place called Cumbria, this cat has used up all nine lives as well as a few others.
Always happy to curl up on a friendly lap, the preference is for a local lap and not a lap that wants to descend on the county to change it into something it isn’t. After all, you might think Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland is a land forged by nature – the glaciers, the rivers, breaking down the volcanic rocks or the sedimentary layers – but, in reality, the Cumbria we know today was forged by generations of local people, farmers, miners, quarriers, and foresters.
This cat is a local moggy, not a Burmese, Ocicat or Persian, and although I have been around the block a few times, whenever I jump, I end up on my feet back in my home county. I am passionate about the area, its people, past, present and future, and those who come to admire what we hold dear, be it lakes and mountains, wild sea shores, vibrant communities or the history as rich and diverse as anywhere in the world.
