Carlisle councillor: Cumberland Council could lack diversity without more support for parents

A Joint Committee formed with representatives of each North Cumbrian council met in Wigton on Thursday.

The committee is made up of senior councillors from Carlisle City Council, Cumbria County Council and the borough councils of Copeland and Allerdale.

It is tasked with carrying out preparatory work for Cumberland Council, a new unitary authority which will take over from them in those areas from April 1 2023.

At a meeting of the committee on Thursday, the Joint Committee were asked to approve a draft constitution prepare by officers and recommend it for adoption by the new authority.

Cllr Lisa Brown

But city councillor Lisa Brown raised concerns about the lack of support for parents standing for election.

Councillor Brown said: “I notice just a lack of parental and maternity policy at Carlisle City Council, a motion as passed to look into this. I would hope, with that in mind it would be something that was put through.”

Elections on May 5 will appoint the first members of Cumberland Council. They will serve as a Shadow Authority for the first year, co-existing with the current county and district councils.

During that period they can decide to accept, amend or scrap the recommendations of the committee.

Cllr Brown said: “I know that we can’t recommend that to the Shadow Authority but I’d be minded to send a note with this that it’s something they look at. Is it something that you’ve considered when doing this or is it not been anything that’s even been on your radar?”

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City council monitoring officer Mark Lambert said it was not considered as it would be a political decision for the new authority and not something that should be written into the constitution.

Following the meeting Cllr Brown said: “It was just a complete oversight, if we want diverse councillors who reflect our communities.

“It’s just outdated, if we want to get a diverse group of people standing up for local government, we need to look at these things.

“I think it’s disappointing. This new council it could have been exemplary. Putting it in the constitution says to people: ‘this new council is serious about this.’”

Cllr Brown also raised the support for parents and carers during a discussion about councillors’ allowances.

“The £9.50 an hour is obviously welcome but there’s a huge difficulty when it comes to finding somebody to provide that service to look after your children for just a couple of hours a day. People in child care settings generally work on the basis that they have a child for a set amount of hours per week and they’re reluctant to give up one of those spaces just on an ad hoc basis.

“I don’t think this is something that’s ever been properly addressed in the past and I have issues with it on the city council.”

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