New pilot schemes of the community boards outlined in Cumbria County Council's unitary bid 'One Council, One Vision, One Voice' are being proposed for five different areas in the county.
It follows the announcement that the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) has approved the proposal for a unitary council for Cumbria to go to a consultation stage.
Community boards are an integral part of 'One Council, One Vision, One Voice', which proposes scrapping the current two-tier system of local government in Cumbria and replacing it with a single, unitary council.
'One Council, One Vision, One Voice' proposes the creation of 20-30 community boards, which devolve power, responsibility, influence, accountability and resources to a truly local level. They have been described as the 'eyes and ears of the council' and will be responsible for listening to local communities and implementing local decisions.
It will be the decision for any new unitary council in 2008 how to structure the new community boards and how their boundaries will be drawn, but the aim is to align them with natural communities. The community board pilot schemes being proposed will involve working with local partners in the following areas:
- Central Barrow (electoral divisions of Old Barrow, Hindpool, Risedale and Parkside)
- North Allerdale (existing Market Town Initiative area)
- Grange & Cartmel
- Keswick (existing Market Town Initiative area)
- North East Copeland (parishes of Cleator Moor, Ennerdale and Kinniside, Arlecdon and Frizington, Lamplugh and Weddicar)
The pilot community boards will be up and running as soon as local arrangements with partners can be developed. Talks will be held with the county council's local committees, town councils, parish councils and market town initiatives on how the pilots will be run. Discussions will also be held with district councils to gauge their interest in engagement. Cumbria Association of Local Councils (CALC), Voluntary Action Cumbria and Cumbria Councils for Voluntary Services will also be invited to determine their interest and capacity to support the work. Other key organisations such as Cumbria Constabulary and Cumbria Primary Care Trust will also be involved in the process and one key aim of the pilot schemes is to engage youth interest as much as possible.
The pilot schemes will give vital feedback on how the community boards could be run and make sure the model is robust and flexible enough to take account of Cumbria's diverse communities.
Running the pilot schemes will provide vital information on areas such as: size and resources; the work of councillors; how to engage marginalised and hard-to-reach groups; the relationship between community boards, neighbourhood forums and local committees; how to respond better to community action plans; and partnership working with businesses, voluntary organisations and town and parish councils.
Tim Stoddard, Leader of Cumbria County Council, said:
"Community boards are a vital part of our bid. They connect the council to people in a far more local way than the current two-tier system. Community boards will be responsible for taking the decisions which make sense in local communities. All too often councils decide something about services and facilities in isolation and without proper regard to how they impact on communities. These pilots will help shape the boards so they're ultra-responsive to local needs."
Joan Stocker, Deputy Leader of Cumbria County Council and Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said:
"These pilots will help us evolve the community boards through a partnership approach. We want decisions to be made locally by consensus and it will be helpful for as much input as possible in shaping how this works. These pilots aren't prescriptive and this exercise will be a learning exercise on both what works well and what works less well. The existing set-up of the county council and district councils is too remote and leaves people feeling disempowered. Community boards will give people a proper voice in a proper local community."
Stewart Young, Leader of the Labour Group, said:
"For the first time in Cumbria, we will see double devolution in action. The pilot schemes chosen are a good reflection of the diversity of Cumbria - they represent urban and rural communities, varied social backgrounds and have different geographical spreads. The local partnerships also have different levels of capacity in terms of the number of organisations involved and the level of activity."
Jim Buchanan, Leader of the Conservative Group, said:
"There's no one-size-fits-all approach. Cumbria is made up of numerous different communities and we need to make sure that the community boards tie in with what people feel is 'their' community. Once you give people that sense of belonging, and the power to make decisions that really matter where they live, then hopefully it will trigger a new interest in local democracy."
Notes
The picture at the top of the page shows a map of the geographical spread of the pilot community boards.
You can view the council's 'One council, One vision, One voice' unitary web pages at the link below.
ENDS
Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 606332
View the 'One council, One vision, One voice' unitary web pages....