Fair Deal for Cornwall

Matthew Taylor visiting a local school

For decades under Conservative and Labour Governments, the system of local funding has left the South West out in the cold, hitting key services like police provision, education and social services to the tune of millions of pounds.

In 1997 the Labour Government promised to make the system fairer, but when they finally launched their proposals in January, Cornwall again lost out. The result of the new formula is that, as under the Conservatives, Cornwall's funding will continue to fall even further behind the national average.

More often than not, it costs more not less to run good services in isolated rural places like Cornwall. With many essential services already in crisis after years of underfunding, here's how the final settlement leaves Cornwall this year:

Education: Average per pupil funding is already £180 below national averages. The new Government formula means the shortfall will increase.

Police: Six police stations in Devon and Cornwall constabulary have closed since 1997. Devon and Cornwall Constabulary have warned that 400 officers will have to go unless council tax rises substantially. In the long run, the new formula means funding for our police will, as under the Conservatives, continue to fall even further behind the national average.

Social Services: Funding pressures mean that provision in Cornwall is already £6 million short of meeting actual need. Cornwall is now being offered £109,000 less than in the provisional settlement in December 2002. In the long run, as with other services, under Labour's new formula Cornwall will continue to fall even further behind the national average, as it did under the Conservatives.

These latest proposals leave all Cornwall's services falling behind the amounts allocated elsewhere. The shortfall has to be made up by cutting services, or asking Cornish people, who are on the lowest wages in the country, to pay yet higher council tax.

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Fair Deal for Cornwall I support the fight for a fairer deal for Cornwall. Under rules set by the Conservatives, Cornwall already gets far less for: education per pupil, the NHS per patient, and for police and local services than the national average. Labour now proposes to make it EVEN WORSE. We call upon the Government to change its local spending proposals to a formula that will see Cornwall get its fair share of funding.
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Published by Matthew Taylor MP, 10 South Street, St Austell, Cornwall PL25 5BH
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