UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Despite the platitudes and back slapping from the pro Union Westminster based politicians in the wake of the Scottish independence referendum, in their heart of hearts they must be aware of a number of important developments that no amount of spin can conceal. Firstly, they got away with it by the skin of their teeth and despite the wall of ‘No’ focused negativity and sentimental hogwash in the media (state owned and non state owned) some 45% of Scottish voters actually dared to chose to vote for independence.

Secondly it is a great deal easier to move from 45% to 51% than it is to go from a lower figure. Thirdly having got away with it this time, it will be much harder to get away with it next time around. Lastly, when Westminster fails to rapidly deliver the weighty but hastily promises made to the Scots in the last few weeks of the campaign (in an effort to firm up the no vote) then that democratic 55% figure of those who voted no may well begin to crumble away rather rapidly.

The Union that existed before the 18^th September is no more, it is history; all of us are now living in a very different state from the one we were living in before the vote. The dynamic has changed, and not just for Scotland but for the rest of the inhabitants of these isles, especially here in Wales. For too long, we have tolerated a second rate devolutionary settlement, one that has made if difficult to deliver real change and significant economic and infrastructure improvements for our people.

The combination of an increasingly inert Labour in Wales governmental party, who don’t want the tools to do the job, but merely to occupy the seat of power to prevent anyone else doing anything with it, was barely acceptable during the age of devolution. The problem is that we are no longer living in the age of devolution; devolution as was is old hat, as we are living in the age of transition, an age of self-government.

I am not unionist, I never have been, I probably read enough history and seen enough to understand that the much vaunted Union is not delivering for increasing numbers of people across these isles.  It meant (and means) different things to different people in different places, for one thing Wales, is not a region of England, we are one of number of nations and peoples within these islands.

Wales (and the our people) need parity with the Scots (and Scotland) otherwise we will continue to be treated as a second rate nation and lack the tools to do the economic jobs that need doing. The old cosy status quo is gone; the UK has changed for good. It’s time for Wales to stop continually having to play catch up.

The Wales Bill needs to be radically written, to take account of the many promises that have been made to Scotland. It is important that Wales is not side-lined from the hopefully soon to start process of transferring power Scotland will be offered new powers and that a fast-tracked timetable for introducing the necessary legislation has been unveiled. 

Any new Scotland Bill will pass through the Westminster Parliament pretty much side by side with the current Wales Bill. It would be entirely unacceptable for MPs to vote through substantial powers for Scotland while voting through an inadequate second-rate bill for Wales.  The sluggish, piecemeal, incremental changes that have trickled down to Wales, as and when Westminster felt something was necessary have produced an unsatisfactory outcome for our nation and our people.

A QUESTION OF STATUS?

When it comes to tax, most of us pay it and most of us probably pay our fair share, and even a proportion of corporations (multi-national or otherwise) end up paying some degree of tax - despite the best efforts of creative accountants. The question of what exactly is a corporation and how much tax it should pay came before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (last month) in relation to the Duchy of Cornwall.

The Duchy of Cornwall, the Committee heard, provides the heir to the throne was a private income,  was not a corporation and that the prince voluntarily pays income tax. The Duchy of Cornwall, despite the name, happens to have significant landholdings well to the east of the Tamar which included the Oval Cricket Ground in London and a third of Dartmoor, not to mention pretty extensive property in Cornwall itself.  It is worth noting that the "title and honour" confers legal prerogatives in Cornwall which elsewhere belong to the Crown including for example the right to the property of people who die without heirs and ownership of the foreshore. Interestingly the duchy estate is worth some £762 million pounds.

A Royal aide revealed that the prince's estate does not pay capital gains tax because he "doesn't have access to the capital gains. The capital gains are all reinvested in the duchy for future dukes". MPs were that the profits were used to pay for the prince's public duties, as well as those of his wife the Duchess of Cornwall and those of Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and that if parliament legislated to prevent Prince Charles using his private income in this way it would cost taxpayers more - to pay for his official duties - and he would be free to spend his money "on his other things".

A senior Treasury official told the committee, that the prince's tax arrangements worked this way because he does not pay capital gains tax because he always reinvests any profit from sales, and that "If the duke were to be taxed on the corporate income of the duchy as well as his income, he would be taxed twice."  The Treasury official also stated that the duchy differed to other corporations because the prince "is in the unusual position of getting all the income." The duchy estate of land and property - mostly in the south-west of England - was established by King Edward III in the fourteenth century to provide a private income for his son and heir to the throne.

The last time Prince Charles's representatives came before the Public Accounts Committee they were accused of performing financial "jiggery pokery" and he was said to be the recipient of the "best housing benefit scheme in the world".  The committee was fresh from finding the tax affairs of Google, Starbucks and Amazon wanting. Earlier this month, the prince faced calls from Andrew George, the Liberal Democrat MP for West Cornwall, to "come clean" about the Duchy of Cornwall's tax arrangements. Clarence House has said public funding for the Prince of Wales fell by £1 million to £1.2 million pounds in the last financial year, out of a total income of £20.2 million.

NOW THAT’S AN IDEA!

One idea that could catch on here is the community purchase of energy – individually we may get regularly fleeced by the energy companies, but, a collective purchase of energy may mean that we can cut a better deal with the energy suppliers. The idea of collective buying of energy has been tried for the first time in Cornwall where it has saved households on average £130 per year on their fuel bills.

The scheme, Cornwall Together, aims to help households across the county save an estimated £3.7 million through cheaper energy tariffs. If things go according to plan it is hoped more than 20,000 people across Cornwall may be able to reduce their energy bills by 10-15%. This may be first time an entire community county has united to buy energy more cheaply, enabling it to also tackle economic problems, encourage environmental sustainability and improve people’s health and well-being.

Basically Residents register their interest with the scheme to find a cheaper energy tariff, providing details of their current fuel bills. Then Cornwall Together will negotiate on behalf of all those that have registered to get best value tariffs. As well as identifying best value deals, wherever possible a green energy option will be offered. For each energy switch, 10% of the total money saved will be put back into a fuel poverty fund which will benefit the whole county. Cornwall Together will then seek match-funding from other organisations.

The scheme was conceived by the Eden Project, Cornwall Together was originally pioneered by Cornwall Council, the NHS, Community Energy Plus and Community Buying UnLtd. They have been joined by delivery partners energyshare – the community renewable energy platform – and uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service. St Austell Brewery and Unison are also supporting the scheme, promoting it to their staff and also helping Cornwall Together reach vulnerable members of the community.

Collectively, Cornish households currently spend around £1.2 billion pounds on energy each year. According to the NHS approximately some 25% of these households in Cornwall are in fuel poverty. Across the UK the average household energy bill has risen by 140% a year since 2004 (from £ 522 to £ 1,254 pounds per year). Cornwall Together aims to secure cheaper energy bills for residents, helping to reduce fuel poverty in the county – and its associated health risks.

The idea of collective buying of energy may be catching on, as Consumer Futures (the new National Consumer Council) wants the Welsh government to promote collective switching to help fight fuelpoverty.  Merthyr Valleys Housing is currently talking to its tenants about starting a scheme. While community purchasing of energy is not a perfect solution to the problem of high energy costs it may well be an idea that is coming into its own and may provide a degree of protection from the worst excesses of the alleged free market for energy. 

IT’S CORNWALL’S TIN

An opportunity for Cornwall?

With tin prices close to around $20,000 (£13,300 pound) a tonne there is a bit of a Tin mining frenzy kicking off in Cornwall where Marine Minerals Ltd (MML) are currently searching the seabed off for the tin tailings washed down from the old mines. It has been estimated that perhaps around 40% of the tin mined that was once mined on land is now sitting on the seabed. The plan is to sift the seabed at least 200m from the low water mark off the coast at St Ives Bay, Porthtowan and Perran. Elsewhere Treliver Minerals (UK exploration company) is test drilling for tin at Treliver Farm, near St Columb Major. At Callington an Australian mining firm New Age Exploration plans to re-open the old Redmoor mine.

The off shore plans are opposed by environmental groups and surfers who are concerned that it will destroy the natural habitat and the beach breaks. MML rejects the arguments and has launched a £500,000 environmental assessment before making an extraction licence application to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). MML say that  the extraction process will use perhaps three tracked vehicles on the seabed sucking up the sand for sifting on a ship. The Cornwall-based firm is proposing to sift 2m tonnes of sand from the seabed every year for 10 years, with about 95% of that material going straight back onto the seabed. The rest will be brought ashore to produce about 1,000 tonnes of tin a year, with the waste possibly going into old clay pits in the St Austell area.

The MMO's has expressed its concerns in relation to possible impact of mining operations on marine life (including oysters and sea snails around Perran which is a proposed Marine Conservation Zone), St Ives Bay, which is an "important" migratory route and feeding area for sea trout, Atlantic Salmon and shell-fish production in St Ives Bay. They also have concerns about the stirring up of heavy metals on the seabed and an increase in algal blooms, the impact on tourism (due to noise close to the shore) and the £64 million pound local surfing industry.

The  question of jobs will loom large, as Cornwall has suffered years of economic neglect at the hands of Westminster. If the UK economic gets cold, then Wales gets flu and Cornwall pneumonia. I am sure that the Duchy of Cornwall (which is justifiably under fire for its activities) will endeavour to get more than its fair share along with the Mining companies, but, what about the people of Cornwall? Rather than business as usual where distant Westminster has the final say and then helps itself to the lion’s share of potential revenues perhaps the decision should be made by the Cornish and any mining license and extraction fees should sit in a ring fenced Cornish Sovereign Wealth Fund – just a thought?