A county-wide consultation exercise has been launched to collect views on a potential County Durham devolution deal.
Labour has called on Tory and LibDem leaders running the Coalition that leads the Durham County Council to reject a supersized devolution deal – merging powers of seven councils stretching from the Scottish Borders to Barnard Castle – to secure the unique “County Durham-only” deal, offered by ministers last year, but so far stalled.
However, while Labour councillors favour a potential county deal, they also feel the people of County Durham should have their say on devolution, which has so far only been discussed behind closed doors by Coalition leaders.
County Durham Labour Leader Carl Marshall said:
“Labour is on record as favouring the once in a generation opportunity a county-only deal would offer us to become masters of our own destiny. However, we also feel it’s vital that the people who would be most impacted by devolution – our residents – have their say too.
“As LibDem and Tory Coalition leaders hold secret meetings that could impact on the county for generations, Labour is launching a county-wide consultation to ask people what they want from devolution.
“Due to us being excluded from all devolution meetings, even though Labour remains by far the largest party in the county, we have limited time to act. However, even if just a small proportion of our residents have their say on such an important decision, it will be worth it.”
Consultation launches today (Tuesday, September 20), with survey forms available on the County Durham Labour website: https://countydurhamlabour.co.uk/poll and can also be printed off for people to complete manually.
Cllr Marshall called on Coalition leaders, Lib Dem Amanda Hopgood and Conservative Richard Bell, to end secrecy around devolution talks and let the public know what deals are being done in their name…and what deal the Coalition favours.
Cllr Marshall said that County Durham’s half a million population and growing economy meant it was well placed to take advantage of its own unique deal, and that people in the county deserved a say in the structure and organisation of their local government.
Labour’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Rob Crute, said:
“Labour supports regional unity and we will be a good neighbour to councils in Tyne and Wear and Northumberland, but the time has come for this Coalition to consider the needs of our residents now, in a cost of living crisis, and in the future as we look to recover – the time has come to put County Durham First.
“Devolution puts our future in our own hands and out of those in Whitehall. It is a unique opportunity and one that, if we don’t grasp it, will haunt us for generations.”
Labour has emailed councillors urging them to complete and share the devolution survey with residents. The party will also share the survey across social media.
Starting today, the survey will run for two weeks, before results are compiled and shared.