Empty promises and false economies

As the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Cornwall Council, I have the privilege of attending a couple of conferences each year to meet with Council Leaders and Group Leaders from around the country. Last week at the County Councils Network Conference, Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicted what would be in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement. He recognised that many councils are on the brink of bankruptcy due to the crippling costs of adult social care, temporary emergency accommodation and school transport (especially for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). He confirmed my analysis that by cutting investment in prevention and early intervention over the past decade, the Government has now created crises across the public sector which end up costing far more than anything saved by the previous cuts. But far from learning this lesson from history, he predicted that in order to fund pre-election tax-cuts, the Conservatives would cut council services over the next four years by as much as they were cut during the George Osborne austerity years!

A few hours later, “Levelling Up Secretary” Michael Gove gave an up-beat speech in which he acknowledged these financial pressures and said he knew “the shape of the presents under the Chancellor’s Christmas Tree”, so whilst he couldn’t make any promises, we should all be looking forward to the Autumn Statement.

I took the opportunity to ask Mr Gove directly what progress he was making on implementing the measures I called for when I asked Cornwall Council to declare a “Housing Emergency” in 2021. 

I thanked him for allowing councils to charge double Council Tax on second homes (though it’s a shame we aren’t actually allowed to use this power until 2025). I asked him when he would introduce regulations to ensure that all holiday lets were safe and properly run (“very shortly” was his answer). He said he would “look into” my suggestion that Small Business Rate Relief should be removed from holiday lets and the proceeds used to fund affordable housing. And finally, I asked him whether he would declare holiday accommodation to be a different “use class” from residential property so that communities could prevent too many homes being converted into holiday accommodation. He said “The case that you and others have made is a strong one and the National Planning Policy Framework should be published at the very beginning of next month”. 

I’m always happy to give credit where it’s due, and Mr Gove clearly showed that he understood the problems Cornwall faces.

Of course, when the Autumn Statement was delivered on Wednesday, hard-pressed Councils received a great big box of nothing. Let’s hope that Mr Gove’s positive comments about reducing subsidies for holiday lets and introducing new planning powers don’t turn out to be empty promises too…