Now I’m back in Cornwall, I am trying to catch up with everyone I can.

I met with the town and city council clerks and Truro mayor this week to discuss their councils’ plans and how I can support them as their MP. I also hope to meet with as many parish councils as possible and attend as many events as I am able in the times I’m not in London. Any parish councillors or clerks who want their MP at an event, let me know. I’m going to St Newlyn East next.

What’s clear in Cornwall is just how busy our town (and city) councils are. As our unitary Cornwall Council has struggled with cuts to its budget over the 14 years of Conservative austerity, it has shed services wherever possible and our town councils have had to step into the breach and take on many precious assets that could have been lost. Parks, green open spaces, public toilets, libraries, public buildings, leisure centres, theatres, art galleries, community centres. Not only are town councils now looking after land and buildings that Cornwall Council now say they cannot afford (and Cornwall Council are threatening to sell or offload up to 2,000 more green spaces, buildings and carparks in the near future), they are also having to step in and provide public services where the Conservative government cut them. Youth services, environmental officers, park-keepers. Anti-social behaviour officers and street wardens have been employed by the city and town councils in conjunction with businesses where cuts in neighbourhood police officers have bitten.

Unfortunately, the funding did not follow the need and so this has meant that an inequality has arisen where council tax precepts if you live in a town are higher than if you live in a parish or village, as bigger councils have had to raise local precepts to cope. Smaller councils have also taken on larger projects as a result of their neighbourhood plan or a towns deal.

Moving decisions on local services to local level is a good thing and this government’s Devolution Bill will make it possible for more decisions to be made by the people they are affected by. We have historically been the most centralised country in Europe with far too much being micro-managed from Westminster. The pandemic showed how centralisation could actually be dangerous and the Conservative government’s habit of dangling pots of money in front of local government and communities with only a few weeks to complete a complicated application procedure and a very short amount of time to spend it before it is snatched away again was counter-productive.

The new deputy Prime Minister has pledged to provide long-term funding settlements for local government and an end to the “Dragon’s Den approach of bidding wars between local authorities”. Putting local government back on a sustainable and solid footing and our pledge to provide 13,000 new neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs to relieve the pressure on high streets have to be positive steps.

I’ll also be holding constituency surgeries this month: next Friday afternoon (16th) in Truro, and the last Friday of the month in Falmouth. Email for an appointment to [email protected]