Cornwall (Structural Change) Order 2008

I apologise to the noble Baroness for arriving slightly after she started to explain this order. I identify myself with the points made by my noble friend Lord Tyler. An order not being dealt with this afternoon is for Exeter and a unitary authority in Devon. I congratulate the Government on rethinking and hesitating on the solution for Devon and Exeter because the one that came out initially was not the right one. I believe that Devon County Council itself welcomes the full review that is now taking place. That is a much better way forward than was originally discussed on the eastern side of the Tamar. On Cornwall, I congratulate the Government on giving the proposal from the county the opportunity to move forward. This will be a huge improvement. Cornwall is now far more self-assured and can move forward over the next decades. This is a very exciting period and the Government’s work with Cornwall now gives it those opportunities. Having said that, the course has been bumpy, but it has not all been on the Government’s side; the way in which much of this has been communicated locally has not been satisfactory, and I regret that. However, I am very sure that residents of Cornwall looking backwards and those who will go through this issue will welcome the solution in this order. The order is very much concerned with the future. Generally, in Cornwall we see this as a very important step, but it is only a first step towards bringing other powers and responsibilities down to the Cornwall Council once it has shown itself to be a responsible, effective and successful authority: powers relating to the economy, social issues and perhaps even health issues. That would be a very valuable way forward which we would welcome. I understand that we have to prove ourselves before we get to that situation. As my noble friend said, there will be an important duty on the new Cornwall authority to ensure that it fully devolves its own powers locally as much as possible. Reading through the instruments and the explanations, I understand entirely why the new council is, in effect, a rebranded county council in terms of legal aspects, but I am unclear—I apologise if I missed this in the Minister’s opening remarks—what the council will be called when it is established and comes into force in 2009, given that legally it is the county council at the moment. Reflecting the remarks of my noble friend Lord Tyler, for us this is a new start. I understand that legally it might not be quite that, but in every other way it needs to be so.