A GOVERNMENT minister has addressed concerns that Carlisle’s city status could be lost in the restructure of local government in Cumbria.

Minister of State for Levelling-Up Communities, Kemi Badenoch, said in a letter this week: “For the avoidance of all doubt, the city status of Carlisle will be maintained.

“Officials are already working with the officers of Carlisle to ensure that we follow past precedents for maintaining the city status.”

The letter was received by Lord Dale Campbell-Savours after the issue was raised in the House of Lords in March.

Legislation to reorganise Cumbria into Cumberland in the west and Westmorland & Furness in the east were passed by MPs in Spring.

Concerns raised in the Lords were that it did not include a parish council for the urban area of Carlisle to hold the charter - a historic arrangement giving a place city status.

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However, Ms Badenoch explains: “The arrangements for maintaining the city status will be to establish Charter Trustees. The Council have now asked us to do this and we have agreed.

“Charter Trustees will hold all the historic and ceremonial rights of Carlisle, in particular the city status, until the local area establishes a new town council for Carlisle, if that is what the area wishes.”

She said that if a town council is established by the new Cumberland Council these rights will be passed to them “and it will be able to style itself as a city and have a mayor.”

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This piece of legislation will be passed before Cumberland Council takes over next April.

But former Carlisle MP Eric Martlew believes arrangements to hold the charter were missed the first time: “If we hadn’t got it right we could have well lost our city status, despite people saying it's belt and braces, it wasn’t.

“One of the problems is the city status wasn’t clear but it’s not something you do every day.

“One of the things I thought we were doing was to create a town council, this idea we need to appoint other trustees is a nonsense because who's going to look after our cemeteries and parks?

“The city council decided to leave it to the new authority.”

But deputy leader of Carlisle City Council Gareth Ellis said: “The city status was never in jeopardy, it was a process. Even if it wasn’t in the first piece of legislation they have wrap up orders. It was never in doubt.

“The charter trustees, as I understand it will be the councillors for the new authority. They can select the mayor amongst themselves.

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“We weren’t sure if that was going to go in the first order or the second but there was always going to be a wrap up of the loose ends.

"The main thing is, they're wanting to be safe and legal on day one. A lot of these things can take a while. They can probably manage to do that."