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Our Fair Deal for Every Community
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A Record of Action….A Promise of More!
- We invest at least £19 million in community and voluntary groups each year and are committed to working in partnership with them.
- Creating a single Council for Cornwall is accompanied by devolving new powers to every community within Cornwall – with a One Stop Shop for Council services in every town, and new community networks to deliver local services, answerable to that local community.
- The new stronger Cornwall Council is the opportunity to regain more control over local issues from regional and national Government bureaucrats – the first step on the way to a Cornish Assembly.
- The mid-Cornwall Credit Union (now part of the Cornwall Credit Union) supported financially by Lib Dem Restormel Council helped 200 families and individuals with their first month’s rent or a deposit for a rented home.
- Cornwall 's unique culture, language and heritage is amongst our greatest strength. We have helped secure official recognition of our language and funding for its development. We will continue to champion Cornish cultural celebration and to ensure it is available as a building block for future economic and social development.
The Lib Dem Guarantee
- We will guarantee One Stop Shops providing Cornwall Council services in every market town, answerable to each community through new local Community Networks – a stronger voice in local decisions than ever before at county and local level.
- We will devolve through the Community Networks greater power to individual towns and communities which were artificially grouped together under the District Council system - plus the new Cornwall Council system saves over £70 million over four years through reduced bureaucracy.
- We will explore formally devolving budgets to each Community Network to give them greater power to address local needs within the community.
- We will set up a task group to give support and funding to help vital village halls requiring substantial capital investment to stay open.
- We will spend at least £1 million to support Cornwall Credit Union - making possible their work to help households access affordable credit and tackle financial exclusion.
- We will increase funds for Cornwall Citizens’ Advice Bureau to enable them to recruit more debt advisors to provide households across Cornwall with good advice more promptly through the recession.
Compare the difference!
- The Conservative Government saw record numbers of local facilities close. For years they sought to close any school with less than 80 pupils, but Lib Dem Cornish County Councillors refused to accept this. Cornish bus services, Cornish local business and local affordable housing were all hit by the Conservatives’ policies, to disastrous effect. Local affordable council housing was sold off and not replaced, whilst second home owners were given half price Council Tax. Powers were stripped from locally elected councils and given to London bureaucrats and local, regional and national quangos appointed by government ministers.
- Under Labour, the erosion of traditional communities has continued. A further 59 Cornish Post Offices closed last year alone. More local community pubs and businesses have closed under a mountain of red tape and rising business rates. Council housing is still being sold off, conversion of full time local homes to holiday lets and second homes is still uncontrolled, whilst local people can no longer afford a home in many Cornish communities. Whilst the Government put £80 million into the Growth Fund to help tackle financial exclusion in communities further north, it gave nothing to Cornwall – one of the neediest and most deprived areas in the country.
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