B1644 - Cornwall (Repeal) Bill - Amendment Division

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repeal the Cornwall Act 2023; make certain consequential provisions for the operation of the Cornwall Council; and for connected purposes.

BE IT ENACTED by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Introduction and repeal.

1 Interpretation

In this Act, “CA 2023” means the Cornwall Act 2023.

2 Repeal

The Cornwall Act 2023 is repealed.

Transitional and saving provision.

3 Continuance of the Cornwall Council

(1) Nothing in this Act or CA 2023 shall be construed to have any effect on the operation of the Cornwall Council as it existed and was constituted before CA 2023 came into force.

(2) But this section does not affect the validity of any election held to the Cornwall Council.

4 Secretary of State for Cornwall

(1) The obligation imposed by section 43 of CA 2023 (which created a Secretary of State for Cornwall) ceases to have force.

(2) The powers relating to the appointment of Secretaries of State, or lack of appointment thereof, that were exercisable by virtue of His Majesty’s prerogative immediately before the commencement of CA 2023 are exercisable again, as if CA 2023 had never been enacted.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act prohibits the appointment of a Secretary of State for Cornwall.

5 School inspections in Cornwall

(1) The powers and responsibilities vested in His Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Education and Training in Cornwall (as established by section 36 of CA 2023) are returned to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (“His Majesty’s Chief Inspector”), as though CA 2023 had never been enacted.

(2) Any power exercisable by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector in Cornwall immediately before CA 2023 came into force is exercisable again.

6 The Assembly for Cornwall

(1) The body corporate established by section 1 of CA 2023 shall cease and determine.

(2) Any assets or liabilities held by that body corporate are vested in the Secretary of State.

(3) The Secretary of State may make provision for the transfer, sale, or disposal of those assets.

Extent, commencement, and short title.

7 Extent

(1) Any amendment or repeal made by this Act has the same extent as the provision amended or repealed.

(2) Subject to subsection (1) above, this Act extends to England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

8 Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day on which this Act is passed.

This Act comes into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by regulations appoint.

9 Short title

This Act may be cited as the Cornwall (Repeal) Act 2024.

This Bill was written by Her Grace the Duchess of Essex as a Private Member’s Bill.

• The Cornwall Act 2023 (c. 54).

Opening Speech:

Madam Speaker,

I believe that the Cornwall Act 2023 is a fundamentally unserious Act. It represents a missed opportunity to have a serious conversation about what level of devolution is appropriate for local authorities in England, instead preferring to put forward a fringe position that Cornwall is indeed the fifth home nation of the United Kingdom; that it ought to have a national assembly with a reserved powers model only achieved by Wales in the past decade. It pretends that an assembly of tin mining interests represented a national assembly and seeks to restore it.

The fact of the matter is that Cornwall already has a government responsible for it – that being the Cornwall Council, a unitary authority within England – and a substantial level of interconnectivity with English government bodies. Cornwall has never had a Scottish Office or a Welsh Office with powers that could be relatively easily transferred to a new administration with devolved powers. The proposal to devolve an entirely new government to this region and confer not just new law-making powers, but a reserved powers model, speaks of recklessness of the highest degree.

This proposal is not made in opposition to self-government or localism for the people of Cornwall. However, I believe the time is right for this House to recognise that it has made a mistake with such drastic, sudden devolution of powers to Cornwall, and to further recognise that we can rectify this mistake before it fully comes into force.

I commend this Bill to the House.

Amendment One (A01):

Strike section 5.

This Amendment was submitted by The Baroness of Bushey.

Amendment Two (A02):

Add Section 3(3) “The next elections to Cornwall Council shall be held on the first Thursday in May 2024.”

This Amendment was submitted by The Baroness of Bushey.

Lords may vote either Content, Not Content or Present to the Amendments.

This Division ends on the 10th of February at 10PM GMT.