Update from Cllr Dick Cole

Nine years on from the recognition of the Cornish as a national minority through a Council of Europe (CoE) Framework Convention, a CoE Advisory Committee has just published its fifth opinion on the United Kingdom. The document is critical of the UK in a number of areas, and criticisms include the lack of support for Cornish identity and language.

It is quite clear that the Advisory Committee is frustrated at the UK’s approach to obligations in the Framework Convention. Early in the report, they reinforce the “importance of respecting reporting obligations” and note that the UK “state report” was only received on 4th November 2021, more than “two and a half years past the due date of 1st May 2019.” It pointedly adds that the “due date of the sixth state report is 1st July 2023.”

The work of Cornwall Council is commended and it is acknowledged that “central government remains fully responsible for the respect of its international obligations.” In relation to this, the opinion challenges the UK Government to “ensure sufficient, regular, earmarked baseline funding for the support and the promotion of Cornish language and culture” and for the adequate funding of organisations providing education in Cornish.

Topics covered by the report include the failure of the UK Government to allow a Cornish tick-box on the 2021 census and their unwillingness to allow Cornwall to have representation on the British-Irish Council, plus the absence of Cornish from the “minority language list” in the BBC Charter and a recent White Paper on broadcasting. In one positive, I must acknowledge that, since the opinion was drafted, Cornish has been included in the wording of a draft Media Bill. This is to be welcomed, but so much more needs to be happening.

The Advisory Committee also addresses the housing crisis in Cornwall and the impact of second homes on Cornish people. In particular, it notes that unlike the other Celtic parts of the UK with “devolved administrations,” Cornwall “does not have the policy levers to effectively address” such issues.

I am pleased that the Advisory Committee has called for greater devolution for Cornwall and has suggested that the UK Government set up a “permanent consultation forum with Cornwall Council” about the needs of Cornish people. As the Chairman of Cornwall Council’s working group on the Framework Convention, I look forward to making further representations to central government regarding the content of the opinion.