Written by Leigh Frost, Cornwall councillor for Bodmin St Petroc

After the last round of Cornwall Council elections in 2021, I distinctly remember the first Full Council where the Conservatives formally took control of Cornwall Council. 

The newly elected Leader Cllr Linda Taylor stood and proudly said in her opening remarks that by electing a Conservative Council, with 6 Conservative MP’s, and a Conservative government, that Cornwall had a direct line to 10 Downing Street, and we would be able to get whatever we needed to provide for our people. Nearly two years on, that statement is regularly used back at the Leader when it is revealed that Cornwall isn’t getting what it needs. This is where politics goes wrong. In being blindly loyal to her party she has in fact embarrassed herself as that was a promise, we all knew would never be kept. 

Our Council tax is being hiked at ridiculous rates because of one reason alone. Central government has ripped the guts out of the local government by more and more damaging cuts. Year on year, we have seen reductions on core funding to provide services, which means that Council’s are doing the governments dirty work for them. By 2021 we had seen a 37% reduction in funding to local Councils, that’s around £15bn, and unlike central government it is illegal for Council’s to borrow to fund day to day spending. This year 75% of Councils in England raised their precept by the maximum amount allowed, this is not sustainable. 

It is unfair to tax people more and more for reducing services, we are beyond a cost-of-living crisis, we are now in a cost of ‘surviving’ crisis. It is profoundly wrong that we accept that food bank usage is even needed let alone at the levels they currently are, that we accept that some families have to choose between heating or eating, and it is fundamentally wrong that we accept our energy bills increasing to record highs whilst energy companies make record profits. We aren’t at breaking point, it is broken.

I could not support raising Council Tax even further when so many are in such need. Councils up and down the Country should be making a stand against government and forcing them to support us properly so we can provide much needed services efficiently to our residents. Our services don’t run efficiently though because in 2021 Cornwall Council cut 410 jobs to save £18m in the budget, this has left the remaining workforce overworked and under pressure. The next time you struggle to get through to anyone at the Council, this is the reason why. 

The government don’t seem to care though. One example is the Adult Social care levy, 2% of your Council Tax increase is to go to towards adult social care. This levy was brought in as a 3 year stop gap, whilst the Government sorted out a proper funding solution. 8 years on there is no solution and Councils are having to levy more tax on people while they dither and delay. Interestingly, just last week there was a government announcement that they were surprised to find a £5.5bn surplus in their budget, a figure like that invested into local Council’s would be a transformational change for the people that need their services most. How will they spend it? I don’t know, but I won’t hold my breath that the Council’s direct line to number 10 will do any good.