What will the Shared Prosperity Fund look like & can it deliver #TheCornwallWeWant as outlined by the public consultation?

Cornwall Council Report 11/10/20
This week we had an Economy briefing where officers were trying to second guess what the Shared Prosperity Fund would look like. Remembering that Boris Johnson promised that Cornwall’s lost EU money would be replaced ‘pound for pound’. So that’s about £700 million. We have no proof that promise will be honoured.
There was a short summary briefing of the results of ‘the Cornwall We Want’ public budget consultation. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that the people of Cornwall want these things prioritised:

• Less dependence on tourism
• Cornwall’s green economy and energy production
• Keeping money spent in Cornwall in the duchy (that’s businesses, visitors and anchor institutions like the Council – including our council contracts which were the subject of our motion and so CC’s policy on that is due to change)
• Tackling climate change (chimes with our Climate Emergency and 2030 target)
• Safer cycling/walking infrastructure and better public transport (we do have a government fund to reduce bus fares, but that has been delayed by Covid). People have been disappointed with how quickly the heavy traffic returned after lockdown.
• More recycling - not taking away the recycling centres in carparks etc. There is general disappointment with the amount of littering in Cornwall after lockdown
• Local culture and community spirit
• Look at our rising council tax and wages of senior council officers
• The lack of affordable housing and the lack of quality in large scale private housing developments
• More devolution – local control of taxes and the education curriculum
• Local control to be retained over planning decisions

None of that came as a surprise. The hard part will be how the Council does what it is asked on a post-Covid, post-austerity budget.
Jayne Kirkham