Although the Covid-19 crisis is far from over, we are at the council now very much focused on recovery, and doing all we can to support the reboot of the local economy.

I very much welcome the news that Sellafield Ltd is committing millions of pounds into a social impact transformation fund, working constructively with many partners right across West Cumbria. This will make a positive and lasting impact on social value and help address both pre- and post-Covid issues that affect people in our communities in many ways and varying circumstances, in particular the most vulnerable people in our society.

I am also pleased to report that the council, which is now free of the PFI, are making good progress on renovating the Copeland Centre which we now own ourselves. Extricating the council from the damaging PFI was fantastic news for Copeland and our taxpayers; it was costing almost £900,000 per year for a building that we would never have owned at the end of the agreement. But working in partnership with the Government, we have been able to take ownership of the building which has now increased our asset base and turned what was a financial millstone around the council’s neck into an excellent and viable commercial asset.

I will be reporting in the coming weeks further increases in our asset base, including more exciting plans for regeneration and commercial development as the obstacles and hurdles that were being put in the way are all but removed and we can now get on and expedite a number of developments with our partners, including Allerdale Council, with whom will are building and ever stronger relationship with a common purpose of improving West Cumbria.

The road towards devolution will also pick up pace over the coming weeks, with the six district councils getting closer to a consensus than they have ever done previously. When you look across to the Tees Valley and see the huge strides and massive investment into their area that has come from devolution, it’s a tragedy that Cumbria – which had the same opportunity to do a devolution deal in 2016 – turned their back on it. This was a folly that cannot be repeated this time around, as devolution is the key to open the door to government funding. It’s disingenuous on the one hand to complain about Government funding while, with on the other hand, you take the wheels off the vehicle by which it is delivered.

Finally, well done to Copeland Council’s Armed Forces Champion Allan Forster, Rod Eglin, Ian Fisher and the Royal British Legion for making sure VJ Day is marked appropriately in Copeland, where many of the residents of our community served with distinction.