The Cumbria Chronic – Page 14 – thecumbriachronic.co.uk

CRUMBRIA: 30.6.2026

ANDY Burnham’s big speech yesterday has got the Chronic foaming at the mouth.

All this “devolution” dirge will mean is MORE local Councillors and linen-suited administrators sitting around committee tables arguing the toss over the price of cheddar and generally talking out of their arseholes.

It also means:

ANOTHER fat layer of bureaucracy
MILLIONS being channelled from Whitehall to be wasted locally by Councillors representing circa 25% of Cumbrians
A NEW Gravy Train for overpaid public sector directors
MORE Talking Shops for local politicians to play Billy Big Shot
MORE ALLOWANCES for gasbags on new Talking Shops

It’s no wonder politicians clap like seals at the idea!

The trouble with Burnmoney’s Big Devolution Delusion is that it hasn’t been shown to work in far-off backwaters like Crumbria.

You don’t need to be Mystic Meg to see that the attractiveness for investors pouring money into Manchester – the largest urban area outside of London – is very different to them lumping investment into Millom.

Even if it did work, in our humble opinion, Cumbria’s Local Government set-up here has already got:

Too much party politics
Too many powers and regulations
Too much Taxpayers’ money
Too many overpaid public sector directors
Too many overspends
Too many Talking Shops

Like it or not, Cumbria is quietly getting MORE of all this.

You’re getting it first via our new Crumbria Combined Authority (annual running costs of £11.2m, and a chief exec on up to £155k).

And you’re also get it with next year’s new Cumbria Mayor who’ll head it up.

Mercifully for you, this polemic won’t be long because we don’t want to bore you to death.

But we wanted to show you what the bill for “Manchesterism” actually looks like.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority – (a Super Council of 10 Councils) – had employee costs of £945m.

76 of those were on £100,000+ a year.

The 15-year-old GMCA – which Burnham oversaw as Mayor on £121,000 – has become a Soviet-style blob of Talking Shops.

As you’ll see below, the political balance on these committees is dominated by elected Labour Party windbags.

Here’s the full breakdown of committees and their political balance.

We shit you not:

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (9 Councillors: 8 Labour 1 Lib Dem.)
Association of Greater Manchester Executive Board (8 Lab; 1 Lib Dem).
Greater Manchester Combined Authority Standards Committee (2 Lab; 1 LD)
Greater Manchester Combined Authority Resources Committee (4 Lab; 1 LD)
Bee Network Committee (8 Lab; 1 LD)
GMCA Audit Committee (4 independent members)
GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee (7 Lab; 3 Lab Co-operatives; 2 Lib Dems; 1 Ind; 1 Conservative
Greater Manchester Housing First, Planning and Infrastructure Commission (10 members).
Association of Greater Manchester Statutory Functions Committee (9 Lab; 1 LD)
Greater Manchester Joint Health Scrutiny Committee (7 Lab; 1 LD)
Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership Board (16 Councillors)
Greater Manchester Waste & Recycling Committee (9 Lab; 2 Lab Co-ops; 2 LD’s; 2 Conservatives.
Greater Manchester Culture and Social Impact Fund Committee (8 Lab, 1 LD)
Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel (18 Councillors)
Greater Manchester 5 Year Environment Plan Partnership (4 Councillors; 25 committee members)
Low Carbon Hub Board — to 29 July 2019 (15 Committee members)
Greater Manchester Air Quality Administration Committee (7 Lab; 1 Lab Co-op; 1 Lib Dem.)
Greater Manchester Joint Clean Air Scrutiny Committee (7 Committee members)
Greater Manchester Clean Air Charging Authorities Committee (4 Committee members