Cornwall Council - we can't go on like this

Yesterday morning I attended Cornwall Council Cabinet. On several occasions during the discussion of office disposal the corporate resources portfolio holder Cllr Jim Currie asserted "we've got to start doing things". A new resolution was tabled to replace the published one, and the Cabinet duly approved "the reduction from 78 principal buildings to 30 by 2015".

Several councillors made heartfelt pleas to see the list of 48 properties to be disposed of - or the list of 30 properties to be retained - and expressed concern that relocating staff to expanded main offices in Camborne, Truro, and Bodmin constituted centralisation at the expense of north, east, and west Cornwall. They were rebuffed with assurances that neither list exists - it seems the precise numbers 48 and 30 just popped up like Wednesday bonus balls, and the 'Property Transformation Plan for the Office Estate' approved in the resolution is a statement of intention for which the 'plan' has yet to be developed.

Paragraph 3.2 of the published report says that the changes may lead to the 'withdrawal of one stop shops' but that this would not be 'widespread'. If it weren't so important to the community, it might have been comical to hear Cabinet members assert that the plans are about back office accommodation and will have no impact on customer facing services, while the officer explained how they would provide better customer access - for example, at Dolcoath Avenue it may no longer be necessary for members of the public to take a lift to the second floor to see planning applications.

In the circumstances, perhaps I should be pleased that - in response to my question - Cllr Jim Currie directly denied that the office transformation plan will have any implications for the one stop shop in central Truro. If I were one of those who had voiced concern about centralisation, I might have wondered whether the Council intends to locate more than 1050 employees at offices in Truro.

The one stop shop in Truro is located on the ground floor of the former Carrick District Council offices. This is identified in the draft Truro and Threemilestone Action Plan (which is not expected to complete it's inspection until December 2011) as a development site. The draft action plan is already underpinned by back office project planning indicating when development is expected to take place, although that timetable drifted during the recession. The planning application for the Penzance new ferry terminal foundered partly because English Heritage is a statutory objector. It is unclear whether the Cabinet's plans to increase the number of staff working at County Hall from 680 to 1050 and move it's reception to a newly constructed 'public link' will get the listed building consents it would need. But it will be surprising if in due course the former Carrick District Council offices in Truro - one stop shop and all - do not come forward for redevelopment.

Perhaps surprisingly, until yesterday's meeting political blogs in Cornwall had been drawing dividing lines for the vote on proposed increases in allowances, at the full council next week, rather than the Cabinet's planned assets sale. For once, the allowances issue will be politically neutral if the Tory and Liberal Democrat groups both vote against it, and if that is the case I would expect both of these groups to reward their councillors next year for good behaviour. Politically, it will be more interesting if the Liberal Democrats behave as they have done previously and ditch their 2009 election pledge by voting for the increase.

If we didn't need genuine democratic renewal in the wake of the MPs' expenses revelations, it might be comical that David Cameron MP used his new year message to call for new politics before returning to his slapstick routines at Prime Minister's questions on Wednesdays. There is an important difference between the way that politicians' behave, and you see it in Cornwall councillors too. Regardless of political Party, I respect polticians who are direct and honest, speak their minds frankly, and show their political values. I do not respect politicians who are disingeuous - it may be one sort of political skill, but to me it only communicates self-interest and I believe politics is about public service, not conning people.