You win some and you lose some as the saying goes. In politics, you can't always get the outcome you want however much you fight. Towards the end of last year, there were two issues affecting our area that were taking up some of my time.
Firstly, the good news. The Government has decided to extend the £50 rebate on water bills for another year. The £50 rebate was something that I secured over a decade ago in 2011. Since then it has delivered £40 million each and every year to water bill customers in the South West. For decades there had been a problem with high water bills in the South West because the costs associated with improved infrastructure to protect our vast coastline fell on a relatively small proportion of the UK population. Nothing had been done during the Blair years and it remained a problem that was unresolved until David Cameron became Prime Minister.
I had originally proposed the idea of a National Social Tariff as long ago as 2010 where support would be weighted towards areas like Cornwall where incomes were lower but water bills were higher. My idea was to fund this support for Cornwall through a levy collected from the wealthier parts of the country. In the end, the Government opted to go for a simple £50 rebate funded by the government as an interim solution. When I later became Secretary of State, I pushed my original idea to the forefront as a sustainable solution for the long term and it is now government policy but the interim approach of giving SWW customers an annual £50 rebate is crucial until that new policy becomes fully operational. I have been making the case to Ministers over the last couple of months and I am pleased that they have now confirmed to me that the rebate will continue this year which is good news.
Locally, I have also been in dialogue with the Trustees at Heartlands, Cornwall Council and the National Lottery over the past two months to try to identify a way forward for the project. I was involved in the beginning as the MP when CPR Regeneration put the original plan together and saw the construction of the project. It was great to create a public realm in the heart of this mining area and to celebrate the heritage of mining in West Cornwall. The trustees of Heartlands are all volunteers who have worked incredibly hard to increase footfall to the site and bring the budget into balance. There have been some great successes with the site used as a popular wedding venue and the annual firework display really pulls the community together but the impact of Covid and other setbacks has made it difficult to get the site onto a sustainable financial footing. Cornwall Council were persuaded to advance a small additional sum of money while options were considered but we were not able to persuade the Heritage Lottery Fund to make further advances of funds at this stage so must now reappraise the project. Responsibility for that now falls to Cornwall Council who ultimately own the site. Whatever happens next the area has been transformed with the investment made so far and I would like to pay tribute to all those volunteer trustees who have given so much of their time in recent years. For my part, I want to work with Cornwall Council to make sure there is some creative thinking about how to deploy the various heritage assets that are there so that there is some continuity.
