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Ref: 343/07 19 September 2007
Political Bosses Call Truce To Back MP’s Campaign Against Cheshire Split
Four former political leaders of Cheshire today (Wednesday) buried the hatchet to back Gwyneth Dunwoody’s campaign against White Paper proposals to split the county.
Labour’s firebrand MP champions the cause of a Cheshire County Region - a strong cohesive unit with its own first class services and strategic clout capable of representing 680,000 people regionally and nationally.
The Member for Crewe blasted the suggestion of a natural split between East and West Cheshire as a “grave misunderstanding of the history, economy and development of Cheshire.“
Said Mrs Dunwoody: “Cheshire is a natural county region. Its history, economy and political make-up demonstrate that this is not a suburb of city regions but a vibrant exciting and developing place.
“We are in the vanguard of structured and exciting change; to reverse suddenly our positions would be unacceptable, short-sighted and unsustainable.“
Today she was backed to the hilt by ex Labour, Tory and Lib Dem leaders who spent much of their long and illustrious political careers savaging each other’s policies across the council chamber.
Simon Cussons (Tory): “Gwyneth has never lacked the courage of her convictions and I admire the way that she has spoken out on behalf of the people. I’m with her all the way.
“Our council taxpayers are still forking out £70 a head for the last tampering with the boundaries of this county in 1997 because the split left New Cheshire with more of the responsibilities and less of the cash.“
“I cannot see any merit whatsoever in moving half of the present county of Cheshire into the gift of Manchester and Salford and the other half into the gift of Liverpool.
“The Minister may see this as an extension of the city region policy but Cheshire, in its present state, is a powerful region in its own right and should be regarded as such.“
Basil Jeuda (Labour): “It seems to me that the very serious effect on Cheshire’s services which would result from such a split, has been seriously understated.
“That is not good for the people of Cheshire, who have been used to receiving first class services for a very long time from an authority with huge experience in delivering well on a strategic basis.”
And he added: “I am also extremely concerned about the loss of specialist and strategic experience that would follow such a split, simply because two smaller authorities would not be able to afford such expertise.
“Only recently the Director of Children’s Services, Joan Feenan warned that the most vulnerable children in the county would suffer for the same reason. We cannot afford to ignore warnings of this sort. “
Ken Maynard (Tory): “The Honourable Member for Crewe and Nantwich has hit the nail squarely on the head. A county region ticks all the boxes both for Cheshire and for the Government.
“The split recommendation is baffling. For one thing, four out of seven councils in Cheshire oppose it…and for another it did not meet the affordability criteria.
“How on earth can you set ‘strict criteria‘ and then say ‘You met all the criteria but we are minded to go with the risky option? If it is not broken and working well - don’t try to mend it.“
David Lloyd-Griffiths, Lib Dem, warned of the grave consequences of underestimating disruption and costs involved in disaggregating long-established county services.
“The suggestion that we should ignore the authority already effectively delivering over 80 per cent of the services and entrusting them to the control of those responsible for the remainder is mind-boggling.
“There is no groundswell of opinion in Cheshire that wants to break up these services or the county council apart from those with a vested interest in doing so.“
Added Mr Lloyd-Griffiths: “Apparently, along the way they are somehow going to reduce costs by creating two councils instead of one, whilst simultaneously duplicating senior levels of management - pure magic!
“Merlin and Jonathon Creek couldn’t pull of this particular trick. I hope for Cheshire’s sake that Hazel Blears doesn’t try.“
Ends
IC/LJ
For Further Information Please Contact: Simon Cussons on 01244 348522; Basil Jeuda on 01625 426740; David Lloyd –Griffiths on 01270 763838 and Ken Maynard on 01275 543335.
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