Truro and Falmouth Member of Parliament Cherilyn Mackrory has continued to make the case for Cornwall Council to release some of the funds it has been given by the government during the COVID-19 crisis for the use of hard-pressed town and parish councils.
On Thursday Cherilyn spoke in the debate on the second reading of the Parliamentary Bill to exempt public toilet operators from having to pay business rates.
This is a small but important law, which Cornish MP Steve Double has been leading on for the past eight years, and one which Cherilyn has supported since her time on Cornwall Council. Bizarrely, the operators of public toilets, many of them already hard-pressed local parish and town councils, have in the past had to pay business rates on these facilities, despite them not being businesses. These rates can run to thousands of pounds a year and can mean the difference to keeping these toilets open or not. It is hoped that the passing of this Bill will help parish and town councils be able to run them more cost-effectively in the future.
Cherilyn also used her speech in the debate to quiz the Minister on what more can be done to ensure Cornwall Council, which has been given hundreds of millions of pounds by the government, passes some of this down to town and parish councils, who have also been under a great deal of pressure during these difficult times.
On Friday, Cherilyn met with Conservative Group Leader on Cornwall Council Cllr Linda Taylor and Deputy Conservative Leader Cllr David Harris to discuss how Cornwall Council will be using the additional nearly £5million of funding the Government announced it would be giving it last Thursday.
Cherilyn said:
“I have not been impressed with how the Liberal Democrat and Independent-led Cornwall Council has used (or not used) some of the funding given to it by the government recently, and want to ensure this new funding is properly used. In particular as Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Local Democracy, which works with the National Association of Local Councils to represent local town and parish councils in Parliament, I want to see Cornwall Council use some of this money to assist these smaller councils, something which it can do, but has so far failed to do.”
“I will continue to do all I can to keep up the pressure on Cornwall Council to pass some of the funding it has received during the COVID-19 crisis to town and parish councils, both by making representations to Ministers in Parliament as well as by contacting Cornwall Council direct. It is the right thing to do and I hope Cornwall Council listens and takes action soon.”