Cllr John Tucker, Elected Leader of the South Hams District Council
Dittisham born and bred, Cllr John Tucker has been the elected leader of South Hams District Council since May 2007.
He leads the strategic direction of the council and his team of 30 councillors and is also chairman of the leading Conservative group.
Cllr Tucker was elected as leader after his predecessor Richard Young lost his seat at the 2007 election. He can legally stay in place until the next district election in 2019. Before becoming leader he was deputy leader for six years.
He was born in Dittisham and has remained in his childhood home to this day, as well as serving on the parish council there for 25 years. He’s been with South Hams District Council since a by-election in March 1997.
He said: ‘I’ve lived in Ditsum all my life; in fact I’ve lived in the same house all my life. My parents moved here from East Allington and Diptford when they married in 1942. They rented Cott Farm and became part of the community.
‘I took on the farm from my parents and bought it. I’m still a working farmer although my two sons now do the day-to-day stuff. I tend to the office side of things more, like working with Defra.’
Cllr Tucker has inherited local politics, as well as farming, from his family.
‘My grandfather was an alderman of Totnes in the 1940s and 50s and my father was a member of Dittisham Parish Council,’ he said. ‘It gets in the blood to be honest and becomes addictive.
‘Being leader of the district council takes up a lot of time and it’s not paid. I work around 45 to 60 hours a week as the leader and for my ward. But this is my hobby. I don’t play golf or go shooting.
‘I fit the council duties around my work and I’m used to early mornings. I used to be up tending to the farm at 4.30am.’
Cllr Tucker’s ward is West Dart, from the edge of Dartmouth to the edge of Totnes, including Ashprington, Cornworthy, Dittisham, Harberton and Harbertonford.
Rather than a single chief executive, South Hams District Council has two directors, Steve Jorden and Sophie Hosking. They’re in charge of the operational and strategic day-to-day running of the council. But the councillors, under Cllr Tucker, challenge policies and steer the council’s strategies and rules, to which the directors and officers adhere.
‘Local government works similar to national government,’ explained Cllr Tucker. ‘I have a deputy, Lindsay Ward and four senior members who look after the finances etc.
‘We set the council tax at our budget meetings and it’s down to us how it goes up and down.
‘This year we have increased our precept by £5 for an average Band D property, the maximum permitted by the government. This will enable us to keep all services and not make any cuts. All the time I’ve been leader I’ve been saying I will not cut services and I believe most people will accept a small increase to their council tax bill to keep services intact.’
Increases are also to offset government cutbacks to local authority budgets.
Cllr Tucker said a reserve support grant from the government to the council, collected through the return on business rates, is gradually being dropped. In 2010 the grant awarded was £5.5 million per annum and in 2018 it will drop to zero.
He said: ‘We’ve lead a transformative programme at the council to offset this loss. We’ve cut staff by 30 per cent and moved a lot of business online where it’s more financially viable.
‘Our ‘Do it online’ system cuts phone calls to the council and creates a 24-hour service. Residents can now pay council tax, claim benefits, fill in planning applications and all sorts online. This also helps our officers reduce admin time on the phone so they can spend more time on the job instead.
‘By implementing these two strategies and not getting into debt, we’re in a good position at the council to cope with big reductions in central government funding.’
Cllr Tucker said the present government is making huge changes to local authorities.
‘This government thinks local councils are not very efficient compared to private companies. Historically we haven’t been able to make a profit and, ultimately in business, if you don’t make a surplus you can’t survive.
‘There’s a move now for local authorities to work more like private companies, from supplementing income to generating income by bidding for contracts such as waste contracts with other authorities. We now have to look at our assets, such as our car parks and coastal towns, to earn more income.’
Although the council is Conservative led and has been for all but four years of its 40-year history, Cllr Tucker is at pains to point out they don’t blindly follow government ideology.
‘We don’t just toe the party line – we’re here to serve the local residents,’ he said. ‘We’re not here to support the government through thick and thin, even if we’re on the same side politically.
‘We’re at the present government’s throat just as much as we were with the last Labour government and are always lobbying against them for the benefit of our residents. But, of course, if the government bring in a law we have to adhere to it.’
A big issue where this is apparent is in new government housing policy.
Cllr Tucker said: ‘Housing is a major issue in the South Hams, with average house prices 14 times average salaries.
‘There’s a lot of development going on now, more in the last 12 months than in 15 years. The government directive is to build more and more and if we don’t comply they will take over planning and do it themselves.
‘Affordable housing policy has been switched to providing ‘starter homes’, sold at just 20 per cent reduction of average house prices. But we will continue to do all we can to push for affordable housing and rental properties desperately needed in the South Hams.’
Despite such issues, it is clear that Cllr Tucker loves the South Hams.
‘I think the environment we live in is great, with lovely rolling hills and a fantastic coastline,’ he said. ‘I think it’s a beautiful place to live and I’d find it very difficult to live elsewhere.’
First published in By The Dart March 2016 issue