MPs started their deliberation on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill in July 2025 and, over the last nine months, Cornwall’s representatives in the House of Commons have consistently argued for a meaningful devolution settlement for Cornwall. They have had repeated meetings with Ministers and, I understand, they have received positive feedback from them. At a meeting of the Public Bill Committee in October, Perran Moon MP reported that: “I have had several conversations with Ministers and am satisfied with…

Read more

I remain exasperated at the top-down diktats from central government, which have fundamentally undermined the planning process in Cornwall and England. The housing target for Cornwall was 2,625 new residential units per annum but, at the end of 2024, the UK Government imposed a new annual target of 4,421. This means that the unitary authority is unable to “demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites” and Ministers have decreed that key “local” housing policies should no longer carry weight. As…

Read more

Article by Cllr Dick Cole published in the Cornish Guardian (25th March 2026) and West Briton newspapers (26th March 2026) On 26th November 2025, Steve Webb, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, ruled out the threat of a Devonwall Mayoral Strategic Authority being imposed on Cornwall. In a letter to the unitary authority, the Minister stated that the UK Government “is minded, on an exceptional basis, to work” with Cornwall Council “to explore designating the council as…

Read more