Lewes District Council has backed recommendations proposed by Green Cllr Ezra Cohen, calling for an enhanced democratic devolution deal for Sussex to restore public trust in politics, ensure local accountability and require meaningful action on the climate and nature emergencies.
It follows the government’s February announcement that East Sussex, together with West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, had been accepted onto its Devolution Priority Programme to work towards the creation of a new Mayoral Strategic Authority covering the whole of Sussex and Brighton & Hove, and that East Sussex County Council (ESCC) would be permitted to cancel this May’s local elections.
‘While the transfer of some key functions from government to regional strategic authorities is welcome,’ said Green Leader of Lewes District Council, Zoe Nicholson, ‘essential reforms to achieve a true renewal of local democracy seem missing from the government’s devolution agenda, and some of its plans would actually make things worse.’
‘Faltering public trust in politics stems from the fact that financial barriers and big money too often dominate our politics and prevent diversity of candidates and of ideas’ said Cllr Cohen. ‘It stems from a broken voting system which, instead of empowering and liberating residents to choose who they want, forces them to try to stop who they fear, and ensures that elected politicians do not represent the range of public political persuasion. It stems from the fact that local councils are too often forced to enact policies of central government against local wishes, and starved of the funds which could unleash their potential.’
Johnny Denis, Leader of the East Sussex Green Councillor Group, emphasised that cancelling the scheduled May local elections for the floundering ESCC seems a ‘particularly perverse’ way to go about achieving the government’s stated ambition to revitalise local democracy and restore trust.
‘Real devolution should usher in a democratic renaissance,’ added Cllr Cohen. ‘It should ensure that locally elected representatives are empowered to make the best choices for their communities, rather than being forced to play the government stooge.
‘I’m delighted that Lewes District Council supported our call for these reforms,’ he says. But what’s needed now, he reminds us, is for the government to listen and prioritise the democratic rights of ordinary people.