7th April 21

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Consultation – Cumbria Unitary Council(s)

1. Respondent Details:

Name – David Savage

Responding on Behalf – Millom Without Parish Council – within the scope of the Cumbrian Area

Role – Chair of Parish Council

Email – Savaged62@gmail.com

Approved by Parish Council (Reference Minute XXXXXX)

2. Context of Millom Without Parish

The Parish of Millom Without is located in the southwest of Cumbria, forming the southernmost part of the borough of Copeland. The Parish straddles the boundary of the Lake District National Park and is designated to be within the setting of the National Park.

The community lives within a picturesque landscape which comprises pastoral farmland, open fell and salt marshes along the northern banks of the Duddon Estuary. Our main centres of population for the nine-hundred or so residents are the

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villages and hamlets of The Green, The Hill, Dunningwell, School Ellis, Lady Hall and Hallthwaites.

The Parish Council currently have three Authorities to engage with:

Copeland Borough Council

Cumbria County Council

Lake District National Park

The Parish welcomes the opportunity to comment on the proposal to reduce one layer of Local Government.

Approach to Consultation Submission

The Parish Council will address its comments to the relevant options which include the footprint of Millom Without Parish Council and will focus its attention on the following proposed options:

Two Unitary Councils - Allerdale and Copeland (West / East Model)

Unitary – Cumbria County Council – “One Cumbria”

The questions addressed in this submission relate to those highlighted in the on-line survey with additional comments not covered by the scope of the survey.

3. Response to Questions

Millom Without becoming “collateral damage” in the two unitary council operating model, with no route to resolution on local issues.

No Real Consensus Among the District Councils. The Parish Council are also concerned that the Allerdale and Copeland model which includes Carlisle City Council is not one which has a clear consensus with the proposed Partner Authorities. This has the real potential to bring an unwilling partner into a structure which they feel does not meet their strategic objectives. All two unitary models face this reality and does not provide a coherent and stable platform in which to launch a new operating model for Cumbria.

Lack of strategic oversight to address the Aging Population of Cumbria - Cumbria has a growing demographic with nearly 25% of the population over the age of 65. This growing demand needs strategic oversight to bring a number of partner agencies to work collaboratively. Millom Without PC has a growing aged population in a remote rural setting – getting this issue working for residents is critical without any unintended disruption to front line services.

Complex Health Service Landscape for Cumbria -This County is served by four Health Trusts (2 acute and 2 mental health). This landscape is already a complex arrangement and any further division of across two principle authorities will be challenging and there must be a question of whether there are sufficient qualified resources to support such an approach.

division and consequential complexity offered by the two unitary councils’ model.

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The final comments which we feel are generic to both submissions are key issues from the perspective of a small Parish Council:

Empowered Communities - As small Parish Council with relatively limited resources and capacity, we believe that arrangements for community governance and empowerment should be flexible to allow for variations in capacity and aspirations amongst town and parish councils. Communities should be free to choose the nature and extent of their involvement.

Influencing Decisions – This Parish Council is proud of its development and implementation of its local Community Plan. We firmly believe that the principal authority should actively engage in the preparation of community plans and establish protocols which enable them to

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influence policy decisions and initiate actions. In particular, there needs to be arrangements that enable all aspects of a parish plan to influence community strategies and local development frameworks. This also needs effective engagement of Authority Staff and resources to provide “wrap around” to the delivery of local aspirations.

Capacity and Capabilities of Parish Councils -There remain differences in capacity and capability across the parish sector which will need to be taken into account if empowerment of communities through town and parish councils is to be a reality across the county. There needs to be recognition of how the new unitary authority will support Parish Councils, particularly in upskilling and creating appropriate locally based partnerships.

No Loss of Local Identity – Small Parish Councils such as Millom Without do not wish to lose their identity through amalgamation with other Parish or Town Councils. We do have an operating model which brings all Local Parish Councils together with other third-party organisations to develop plans and actions that cover the South Copeland footprint. We see the value in such locality models and we feel whichever model is adopted, such arrangements should be on the table for discussion and further development.

We hope you take the above comments into account in making your determination for Cumbria.

Yours sincerely,

David Savage

Chair – Millom Without Parish Council

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