Draft Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022

John Stevenson Excerpts

Monday 28th February 2022 General Committees

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

May I say what a pleasure it is to speak in this Committee, not just because you are in the Chair, Sir Graham, but because the people of Cumbria have waited patiently for this legislation for a number of years, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen will attest. They have been blocked at every turn by the Labour councils. Cumbrian residents saw off some of those barriers to change in the elections in May and December 2019, and this legislation gives us the chance to repay some of that trust. I am delighted to report that on Friday, the county council dropped its opposition through the judicial review process.

[John Stevenson (Carlisle) (Con)]

On that point, does my hon. Friend agree that the JR by the Labour-run council has been a complete waste of time, and that Cumbrian taxpayers have had their money wasted on lawyers, rather than it being spent on local services?

[Mark Jenkinson]

My hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that I agree entirely with his assessment: hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on such a folly. Despite the council being warned time and time again that the judicial review was a waste of time, including by the courts, the Labour leader of Cumbria County Council continued to pursue court action. In the end, it was only pressure from his own members that made him drop his personal vendetta against these proposals.

I do not want to keep Members longer than is necessary, and I am as keen as anyone to see this legislation clear Committee, so I will wrap up by thanking the Minister and her Department for their engagement throughout this process by passing on to them the thanks of Cumbria residents. As we in the historic county of Cumberland start on a new and exciting journey, I will never pass up the opportunity to put our wonderful Cumberland dialect on the official record by saying, “We vanya nivver med it, but even t’jameaters will noo have nowt to twine aboot! It’s varra welcome in Cummerlan.”

[John Stevenson]

Very unusually, I was delighted when I was selected to serve on this delegated legislation Committee. It is so great to see so many northern colleagues present to support this bit of legislation, although to my hon. Friend the Member for Workington and me, they are all southerners.

For many years, I have campaigned for reform of local government, as have many others in Cumbria. Over the years, we have had seven councils—six district councils and a county council—for half a million people. It is completely disproportionate: somebody once said that the county of Cumbria was “over-governed and under-led”, and that was exactly right, so this change is extremely welcome. It is welcomed right across the county, certainly by the business community. It will eliminate an awful lot of confusion, and will give real responsibility and ownership to the two councils that it will create. I hope that in the long run there will be a combined authority within the county, so that when Ministers come north, and in the debates about the direction of travel for places in the north, we have an elected Mayor at the table who represents the whole county. That mayoralty would give Cumbria leadership, and the two unitary councils will be efficient councils that can deliver services on the ground.

This is a very exciting opportunity for our county, which will give real responsibility, leadership, and ownership to the people of Cumbria. My one question to the Minister is about the continuation of the borderlands growth initiative, which includes not just Cumbria but other councils. Does she see it as something on which the two councils can continue to work with other councils in the area, to ensure that the benefits that have flowed from that growth deal continue to flow into Cumbria as well as into the other areas involved? Other than that, I thank the ministerial team for their support in helping us get this legislation over the line. It has been a long time coming, so we all greatly appreciate Ministers’ support.