Dogs:
London hospital:
Local hospital:
Claire Wright and MP Hugo Swire with protesters at Ottery St Mary hospital on Saturday Ref sho 21-16SH 4964. Picture: Simon Horn.
Do it for dogs and London hospital but not in your own constituency
Category Archives: Hugo Swire
“Constructive ambiguity” – a new Tory tactic
David Davis on the Today programme this morning on Brexit. He says Brexit negotiations are going incredibly well. Or, as he puts it:
“You’ll find it difficult sometimes to read what we intend, that’s deliberate, I’m afraid in negotiations you do have constructive ambiguity from time to time.”
So, that’s what our MPs have been doing with their silences on the NHS, education and the environment!
Perhaps Neil Parish should be spending less time on widening the A303 and more time on making the A35 safer
Many of us know the disaster that is the Hunter’s Lodge interchange near Axminster and its catalogue of accidents and deaths.
Now there have been three serious accidents on the same road, all near Kilmington.
Swire might also start thinking about his side of the A3052, which has seen two accidents (one fatal) at Four Elms in recent days:
Of course, there is no money for road repairs or improvements in East Devon – all money in our area is being poured into roads to Hinkley C, widening the A303 and nationally into shaving off 20 minutes on journeys between London and Birmingham.
Priorities, dear boy, priorities.
Devon County Council councillor responsible for Highways – former Monster Raving Loony Party representative Stuart Hughes:
102 Temple Street
Sidmouth
Devon
EX10 9BJ
01395 578414
stuart.hughes@devon.gov.uk
The money is there – just not here!
More on Swire saving services at Royal Brompton Hospital, London
Owl says: hypocrisy isn’t a strong enough word!
” … Yesterday, 21 MPs [including Swire] issued a letter to Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt MP calling for him to block plans to decommission congenital heart disease (CHD) services at the Trust.
Eight of the MPs joined Dr Jan Till, consultant paediatric electrophysiologist and co-director of children’s services, and Hannah Gibson, mother of a child being treated for CHD at the Trust, in parliament yesterday with a giant reprint of the letter to help raise awareness of the issue.
The letter was sent as more than a thousand patients, staff and supporters prepare to join a demonstration against the plans on Saturday 18 March, organised by three charities that support the Trust and its patients.
The letter outlines how NHS England’s plans are not based on evidence, will destroy some of the world’s leading research teams, will cost the NHS millions of pounds, and will not just affect CHD services but a range of other heart and lung services too.
In the letter, MPs call on Jeremy Hunt to intervene to halt the proposals, as he did the last time Royal Brompton’s CHD services were under threat during the now notorious ‘Safe and Sustainable’ review in 2013.
The letter concludes by adding “Would you not agree that the closure could only be justified if it is clearly set out how this would lead to a better service for patients? To date NHS England has completely failed to demonstrate this”.
Victoria Borwick MP, who signed the letter, said: “MPs have come together from across the political divide to support Royal Brompton, showing that this is not a party political issue. This is a matter of simple common sense. Royal Brompton Hospital offers world leading services as one of the biggest and best heart disease hospitals and is also renowned for its cystic fibrosis care. It is entirely wrong to put this in jeopardy.”
Thanks, Mr Swire – at least we know what your priorities are.
As your second home is in mid-Devon, not East Devon, will you be fighting for community hospitals there? Though, of course, community hospitals ARE remaining in your bit of East Devon but now removed from Ottery St Mary, Honiton, Axminster and Seaton – so no worries for you on that score. That’s Parish’s problem. Though as he has HIS second home in Somerset – and successfully campaigned for HIS local district hospital to stay open there – maybe he’s not too worried either.
Swire pitches in to save a hospital – in London!
Yep – that’s our MP … described as one of a number of MPs from “across London and the south”.
Main home is in Chelsea perhaps – and you never know when you might need a good hospital on your doorstep.
Swire on May
“… Theresa May. I’m not denying there are issues around her leadership. But her vilification is damaging our prospects as a nation. There is no knight-in-shining-armour statesman or woman waiting in the wings to replace her. For now, we need to reconcile ourselves to practical governing as the Brexit process grinds on. She may have her faults but she is also dutiful and she is diligent and she deserves our support during these difficult negotiations.”
https://www.hugoswire.org.uk/news/summer-recess
What a damning condemnation of current Tories: “we don’t have anyone better so put up and shut up”!
And “Dutiful and diligent” – sounds like an end of term report on a pupil who hasn’t achieved anything but her teacher is desperately trying to say something positive!
1 in 5 MPs still employ family members – including both our MPs
Swire employs his wife as his researcher on about £35,000 a year, Parish employs his wife at a lower salary as a junior secretary on about £15,000 (but we don’t know how many hours that is for):
“One in five MPs are still using taxpayer-funded expenses to employ members of their family – despite the practice being banned for new Members of Parliament.
Official data shows that, of the 589 MPs who returned to Parliament after the June election, 122 have declared the employment of a relative in the latest Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
Yet under new rules, none of the 61 new MPs elected for the first time on 8 June are allowed to do so.
Alexandra Runswick, the director of campaign group Unlock Democracy, said: “The ban on new MPs employing family members reflects the public’s concerns about nepotism and the potential abuse of public money.
“If MPs employing family members is wrong in principle, then when the MP was first elected is irrelevant.”
Among the MPs who have continued to employ spouses following the June election are several members of the Cabinet, including Tory chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.
Several of Jeremy Corbyn ’s top team also employ spouses, including Labour chairman Ian Lavery and shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner.
There is no suggestion any of the existing MPs who continue to employ family members have done anything wrong.
Ms Runswick said it was ‘reasonable’ to give MPs’ families time to prepare for a new clampdown – but said a ‘time limit’ was needed on how long the current situation could continue.
“A transitional period is reasonable, particularly as the snap election means that these rules have come into force three years earlier than expected,” she said. …
… Darren Hughes, acting chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said it was fair to phase out the practice over the coming years.
“Given the high rate of turnover of both MPs and staff, it is clear that within the next few electoral cycles it will apply to the vast majority of Parliamentary staff,” he said.
“Voters must be able to have confidence that our democracy is resourced in an open and transparent way, so it’s welcome that Parliamentary authorities have taken steps to reform the system.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/one-five-mps-still-using-10907964
Claire Wright has grave reservations on Tory Party and Swire’s commitment to environment
“I have submitted a question for the next Devon County Council full meeting prompted by the government’s lack of action and any assurance on moving current EU environmental protections into UK law.
The subject has concerned environmental charities enough for them to establish a coalition of 30 and a pledge for MPs to sign up to to prove their commitment to retaining such protections through the so called Great Repeal Bill, which is when EU law becomes domestic law.
Over 200 MPs have signed this pledge. When I asked Hugo Swire to sign the pledge he refused and wrote this disappointing blog post in response:
https://www.hugoswire.org.uk/news/blog-birds-and-bees-and-brexit
The Great Repeal Bill (coming very soon) gives an option for the government to strip out or amend any laws they don’t like look of.
Very concerned at some of the messages seeping out from senior Conservative ministers on this subject I lodged a motion at the April Devon County Council, as East Devon has some of the most spectacular and precious landscapes and wildlife currently protected under EU legislation and those protections absolutely must be retained.
My motion, which was supported by every DCC councillor bar one, can be found here – http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/devon_county_council_signs_up_to_my_motion_on_protecting_devons_nature_afte
But when I checked up on the response from ministers to my motion I was deeply disappointed.
It contains absolutely no commitment whatsoever on retaining vital environmental protections nor does it even hint at it.
It rather takes the wind out of Hugo Swire’s claims on his blog post!
Ministers need to be urgently pursued on this and Hugo Swire is the route to do it.
I think we need to maintain a healthy scepticism here and if you are reading this blog PLEASE email Hugo Swire and ask him to work HARD and urgently on this issue.
He needs urgent meetings with his ministerial colleagues and he needs to make it clear PUBLICLY where he stands on any such vote. Residents should reasonably require him to speak against and vote against ANY attempt to water down or scrap this legislation.
Mr Swire needs to stop labelling any concerned voices as scaremongerers and actually take some action.
Here is my question scheduled for the full council meeting on Thursday 25 July – and the response from government to my motion that was backed by full council in April:
“Is the leader content with the reply from Kevin Woodhouse of DEFRA, dated 5 June, to my notice of motion approved almost unanimously by this council on 27 April, which called on government ministers to retain the same environmental protections as we leave the EU, as currently exist under EU legislation.
“The reply from Mr Woodhouse states: “The environment is a natural asset that provides us with numerous benefits such as clear water, clean air, food and timber, flood protection and recreation.
““Regarding future policy, until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the EU and all right and obligations of EU membership remain in force.””
Here is more information about the so-called Great Repeal Bill – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39266723
Email Hugo Swire at hugo.swire.mp@parliament.uk
If you care about this, fight for it. Please. Before it is lost forever.
Swire’s latest question in Parliament – this time on India
“While I welcome the fact that the Prime Minister raised the issue of the Chennai Six with Mr Modi at the G20, may I urge my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to focus his efforts on the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and to seek an urgent meeting with her? Our boys have been languishing in jail there for almost four years—I visited them there myself—and it is time, frankly, that they were brought home.”
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-07-11b.151.7&s=speaker%3A11265#g155.7
Who watches over East Devon with its busy absentee MPs?
Neil Parish was re-elected as chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee, beating Tory former London mayoral candidate [and multi-millionaire] Zac Goldsmith.
So, the Honiton and Tiverton constituency will be seeing very little of Parish, especially as he will return to his Somerset home when not in London.
And with Swire terribly busy with his other jobs which bring him in £5,000 a month (directorship of Photo-Me and chairmanship of the Conservative Middle East Council) and retiring to his home in mid-Devon on his days off we are mostly bereft of their company here in East Devon – except for the odd whistle-stop tours and photo opportunities.
That just leaves runner-up general election candidates Claire Wright (Independent, resident of Ottery St Mary) and Caroline Kolek (Labour, resident of Honiton) to watch over East Devon in their frequent absences.
Many might feel that this is the better outcome!
Swire continues to pontificate in Parliament, but not about East Devon
Owl says: with this man spending so much time in Saudi Arabia and other middle east countries, often at the same time as our UK arms dealers, perhaps his pontificating could start there – with some public pronouncements on their treatment of women and immigrant workers.
“I also pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for all the extraordinary work she has done on the issue of human trafficking and slavery, and commend her for raising that matter at the G20. However, with the world on the move, there are, unfortunately, opportunities for more, rather than less, of that. What can we do between the G20s to ensure that other countries take the issue as seriously as the UK does? We have set the bar on this and we need to raise others to it.”
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-07-10a.25.0&s=speaker%3A11265#g34.4
Swire defends Tory/DUP deal – calls May and Foster a ‘feminist coalition’ and says Foster ‘a good woman’ who even drinks alcohol
Owl says: there is loads more of this twaddle on his website if you can bear to read it. If you voted for him, really you need to work out why.
“Sir Hugo Swire has defended the controversial Tory deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and called party leader Arlene Foster a “thoroughly decent woman”.
… Swire, the MP for East Devon and a junior minister in Northern Ireland under the first Cameron Government, says the DUP will “lie low” on issues such as same sex marriage.
He has hailed the parliamentary arithmetic of the minority government for allowing the emergence a new “feminist coalition” on women’s rights.
… He said he “knows and likes” First Minister Arlene Foster well and has urged people to give the deal a chance.
“I would count her as a friend as I do many of her colleagues,” Mr Swire added.
“The DUP under her is now much more socially progressive. It no longer represents the bigoted and sectarian Anti-Catholic sentiments of the Rev Ian Paisley. Arlene is not even a member of the Orange Order.
“In Belfast the DUP is increasingly reflective of the population that votes for it, which includes thousands of non-churchgoing Protestants. Arlene is an Anglican like Theresa May and a Lawyer, she has Catholic and gay friends and drinks alcohol. I have shared a glass or two with her myself over the years. She is patriotic and pro-monarchy like most Conservatives. She sees her place within the United Kingdom as her key to survival. She is a thoroughly decent woman.”
If only Swire stood up for East Devon in Parliament the way he does for Northern Ireland
Question in Parliament 3 July 2017:
“Is it not the simple truth that, whereas the Democratic Unionist party has managed to obtain £1 billion from the Treasury to spend on the people of Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin—Gerry Adams and those at Connolly House who are refusing to re-form the Executive—will be in no position to ensure that their constituents receive an equal share of that money, because there will be no Sinn Féin Minister in the Executive, and the money will be spent either by Ministers in this place or by civil servants in Northern Ireland?”
3 July
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-07-03a.898.7&s=speaker%3A11265#g905.5
Perhaps if he substituted “Local Enterprise Partnership” for DUP, Hinkley C for Northern Ireland and ” people of East Devon” for ” people of East Devon” for “their constituents” we might feel we had value for money from our MP – an MP who doesn’t think his post is even a full time job:
https://www.hugoswire.org.uk/news/blog-greed-george-osborne
Less time hitting back at the woman who fired him and more of his – one of his many jobs – time on us, perhaps.
Has he forgotten that he is no longer a Minister – when he said he couldn’t talk about East Devon constituency in Parliament – and isn’t it time he remembered he is just an ordinary constituency MP?
Swire backs Hammond for PM: says he’s “an homme serieux” and has “bottom”
Owl says: bottoms are obviously a particular interest for Swire:
… “There is a sense that, in the present febrile climate, whoever is the next leader must be highly experienced. Davis qualifies; so does Hammond, who before his present job was foreign secretary and defence secretary, and who has belatedly displayed a mind of his own since May was hobbled.
Hugo Swire, a minister of state under Hammond in the Foreign Office, said of him: “He’s got bottom. He was very good to work for. He is an homme sérieux. I liked him very much and he would calm things down.” …
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/humbling-theresa-may
Swire blocks Twitter followers he doesn’t like
Owl is proud to confirm that it has never, ever followed Swire on Twitter – for the simple reason it wouldn’t follow Mr Swire anywhere. Nor has Owl ever used Twitter to comment on Swire – finding East Devon Watch a more congenial platform from which to observe and comment on this rather tiresome person.
“An MP has been accused of disregarding his constituents after blocking online followers.
Sir Hugo Swire has apparently begun a purge of Twitter followers following a threat to “drain the swamp” of “vile” opposition after a bitter election battle.
Marketing and business student Sam Gosling, from Sidbury, tweeted the MP earlier this month to complain that wages were not keeping pace with inflation.
His post came in response to figures showing the South West has the highest employment rate of all the UK regions, which had been posted by Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish.
He said the statistics could hardly be good news for workers when “everyone’s getting poorer”.
Swire, who held onto his East Devon seat at the General Election with a reduced majority, responded by blocking the account, preventing him from following, viewing or commenting on posts.
The crackdown follows the Conservative’s angry claim in the aftermath of his victory that he and his family had received “vile” abuse on social media during the campaign.
Echoing Donald Trump, he said he was “taking time out to drain the swamp” of the “vile comments” of independent opponent Claire Wright and “her not so charming followers”.
Mr Gosling said he was “frankly appalled” at having been blocked by his own MP. “I’ve never tweeted or messaged him in any other way that could be deemed offensive,” he told Devon Live. “My last tweet to him was about understanding that unemployment has fallen but wages are going down.
“My mum, a midwife, has been losing wages in real terms for several years. I once asked him as well how he has represented East Devon whilst always voting along party lines.”
Swire, whose Twitter feed states that he does not reply to tweets, was criticised during the election campaign for not attending hustings events.
After his victory he said he was a “straight” fighter but now it was “time to call out” the people who had abused and in some cases libelled him.
Mr Gosling says blocking people it is just an easy way to “ignore and disregard the constituents you supposedly represent”.
“In terms of democracy this is shocking,” he added. “Hugo Swire is supposedly my MP and believes it is okay to totally disregard me as one of his constituents.
“I don’t understand if he thinks that blocking me will mean I won’t voice my opinion in some attempt to silence the people that disagree with him.
“I have felt left behind and excluded by my MP being a student from a working class family but this is a whole new level.
“I want to know why he didn’t turn up to the hustings. I want to know how he represents East Devon? I want to know why he feels it is okay to fail to engage in debate. I want answers but I’m worried that I’ll never get them from my MP as he fails to recognise democracy.”
Devon Live contacted Sir Hugo’s office for comment but the MP refuses to respond to enquiries from Devon Live or the Express and Echo.
His wife and personal assistant, Sasha, suggested that the former Foreign Office minister’s contribution to the Queen’s speech may of more interest than “the blocking of a few abusive tweets”.
Swire, who, before the opening of Parliamented attend two Vin D’Honneur receptions for new ambassador of Paraguay and new High Commissioner of Kingdom of Lesotho, called on the Government to use Budleigh Salterton and its high propertion of elderly people as a model for how Britain’s population will look in 2050.
He said it was now “incumbent on the Government to have a frank and honest consultation on how we fund and provide social care for the most vulnerable in our society” and made two offers.
Firstly, he said East Devon would act as a “the guinea pig for getting social care right in this country”.
Secondly, he called on the Government to build on the Dilnot report, which called for a £35,000 cap on care costs in 2011.
“We should leave nothing off the table, but a cross-party group should steer the Government forwards on this matter,” he added.
“Those are my two offers. As a humble Back Bencher, I will work with other Back Benchers to get social care right in this country, and I offer up Devon, particularly East Devon, as the guinea pig or template for trying to get a social care system that is properly integrated with the rest of the NHS.
“If we get it right there, we will get it right across the nation, and everyone, including our electorates, will be enormously grateful to us.”
Swire offers his constituents up as health care guinea pigs – who voted for that?
Did you vote for this, Tory voter?
“Queens Speech Contribution (Hansard)
Thursday, 29 June, 2017
Sir Hugo Swire (East Devon) (Con)
It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Rother Valley (Sir Kevin Barron), who made some extraordinarily sensible points. May I take this opportunity to associate myself, on behalf of my constituents in East Devon, with the earlier tributes paid to the victims of Grenfell Tower and the terrorist attacks? I also pay tribute to the extraordinary work of the emergency services and to NHS staff for their incredible efforts.
In the 2017 Gracious Speech, the only mention of social care, to which I will dedicate my speech, was:
“My Ministers will work to improve social care and will bring forward proposals for consultation.”
That is in line with the revised section of the 2017 Conservative manifesto, but no more details have been announced about the Green Paper or when it will be published. When it is published and goes out to consultation, it is vital that elderly people, who do not always have access to the internet, are given fair chance to respond and to put their views forward.
I, too, believe that the recent election showed how worried people are about their future healthcare needs. While the system needs to be fixed, it is incumbent on the Government to have a frank and honest consultation on how we fund and provide social care for the most vulnerable in our society. The issue has been kicked into the long grass for too long, so I have two offers to make to the Government this afternoon.
Over 850,000 people in the United Kingdom are living with dementia—equivalent to the entire population of Devon—and that number is expected to double in the next 20 years. Over 12,000 people in Devon are living with dementia, 4,500 of whom are in East Devon. The number of over-65s in Devon will increase from 195,000 in 2015 to 264,400 in 2030—an increase of 35.5%. Seventeen per cent. of the UK population is over the age of 65, compared with 24% of the Devon population. Some 2.38% of the population is over the age of 85, compared with 6.25% of the population of Budleigh Salterton in my constituency. In other words, with those ageing demographics, the rest of England will look like Budleigh Salterton in 2050. East Devon has over 6,500 people over the age of 85 and about 40,000 over the age of 65, so my offer to the Government is this: if we want to get long-term social care right nationally, look at what the country will look like in 2050, which is what towns such as Budleigh Salterton look like now. If we get it right in Devon, “we will get it right across the country. As a Devon MP, I am offering— I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston) will also agree—to act as the guinea pig for getting social care right in this country. That is offer No. 1.
[Offer No. 2 goes on to suggest a cross-party group to talk about the future of health care.]
Those are my two offers. As a humble Back Bencher, I will work with other Back Benchers to get social care right in this country, and I offer up Devon, particularly East Devon, as the guinea pig or template for trying to get a social care system that is properly integrated with the rest of the NHS. If we get it right there, we will get it right across the nation, and everyone, including our electorates, will be enormously grateful to us.”
https://hugoswire-admin.conservativewebsites.org.uk/news/queens-speech-contribution-hansard
Swire and Parish vote (of course) not to lift pay cap on fire and police
No surprises there then.
But this is going to be interesting – for every such vote in future every Tory and DUP MP is going to have to physically be at the Houses of Parliament.
No “fact-finding” missions to the Maldives, no jaunts to Dubai, no popping over to the French château … Owl sees trouble ahead.
Was “smug” Swire responsible for the Seaton/Sidmouth switch?
Owl says: we all know he is a pal of Jeremy Hunt.
Seaton County Councillor Martin Shaw (Independent East Devon Alliance) Facebook page:
“Was Hugo Swire behind the Seaton-Sidmouth switch? A smug Swire told BBC’s Sunday Politics this morning that East Devon had more community hospitals than western Devon and than the national average. He failed to mention that it has many more over-85s too. He backed the NEW Devon CCG’s plans to replace community hospital beds with care at home, and said we must ’embrace change’.
Swire knows that beds in Exmouth and Sidmouth, in his constituency, are safe from closure. So he is happy to write off Seaton (which he no longer represents after boundary changes a few years back) and Honiton.
Swire’s self-satisfied comments raise the question of whether he played any role in the CCG’s bizarre, unexplained, last-minute switch of 24 beds from Seaton to Sidmouth. Clearly had the CCG stuck with its original preferred option of closing beds in Sidmouth, they would have given Claire Wright a huge issue – which might well have seen her taking Swire’s seat in the general election.
Readers will recall that during the consultation, Swire was already saying that if beds had to go, they should stay in Sidmouth. Did Sir Hugo, or Tories acting on his behalf, lobby the CCG? How did the CCG respond?
Swire’s colleague Neil Parish MP told me and other Seaton councillors that the decision ‘smells’. Whose smell was it?
I appeared on the same edition of Sunday Politics as Swire, but was not in the studio to respond to him. Here I am being interviewed! (YOU WILL BE ABLE WATCH THE FULL PROGRAMME ON BBC iPLAYER SOON.)”
Tory MPs ordered not to take holidays abroad – poor old Swire
… in case the loss of a vote bringing down the government.
Oh dear, that’s Swire’s stranded!
(Source: Sunday Times – paywall)
STPs may not be introduced till after Brexit – but are ‘Success Regimes’ similarly doomed or not?
Owl has had to resort to CAPITALS it is so mad!
OWL DOESN’T UNDERSTAND: IF STPs WON’T BE LEGISLATED FOR TILL AFTER BREXIT – WHY ARE LOCAL COMMUNITY HOSPITALS AND MATERNITY SERVICES CLOSED OR BEING CLOSED?
HONITON AND SEATON COMMUNITY HOSPITALS ARE ALREADY BEING WOUND DOWN FOR CLOSURE LATER THIS YEAR – IS HUNT SAYING THIS IS NOT LEGAL?
OUR DOCTORS AND OUR COMMUNITIES ARE AGAINST THESE PLANS, WHICH HUNT SAYS NEED LOCAL SUPPORT, SO IS OUR CCG ACTING ILLEGALLY?
TIME FOR THAT REFERRAL TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND A JUDICIAL REVIEW. THIS POWER-MAD, ARROGANT CCG NEEDS TO BE TAMED OR, BETTER STILL, DISSOLVED.
BUT YOU CAN BET OUR TWO MPs WON’T TOUCH THIS HOT POTATO! AND THAT MS RANDALL-JOHNSON WILL BE DEAF TO IT, AND DCC TORIES SPINELESS TOO.
THANK HEAVEN FOR PEOPLE LIKE CLAIRE WRIGHT, MARTIN SHAW AND ROGER GILES!
What Hunt said yesterday:
“Given the result of the latest general election and with the negotiations around Brexit due to start later this month, it is now unlikely that the government will be able to introduce legislation for sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) in the next few years – if at all.
Speaking at NHS Confederation yesterday, health secretary Jeremy Hunt argued that the legislative landscape has changed after a hung Parliament was declared last week. Because of this, it is unrealistic to expect the government to enact legislative health changes before the Brexit process is finished.
“We said [in our manifesto] that we would legislate to give STPs a statutory underpinning if that was felt to be necessary,” he said. “To be clear, we’re expecting to be in power until 2022 and deliver a stable government to make that possible.
“But obviously, the legislative landscape has changed, and that means that legislation of this nature is only going to be possible if there is a consensus across all political parties that it’s necessary. I don’t think that is in any way impossible, but it’s realistically not something we would do while the Brexit process was carrying on.”
Post-Brexit, he added, the government will have “a lot better understanding” of the legislative changes required by STPs. But even then, changing the law would require cross-party support – a much greater challenge now that the Conservatives no longer hold the majority in the House of Commons.
Responding to audience questions after his keynote speech, Hunt – who survived Theresa May’s recent political reshuffle – also hinted that the NHS could be in line to receive some more transformation funding.
Asked by a West Hampshire GP about the possibility of supporting transformation with ringfenced investment in order to enable new models of care elsewhere in the country, the health secretary argued “that is what the STP plans are about”.
But the biggest risk to pouring in more capital funding, he noted, is “if we don’t maintain the financial rigour and discipline that we started to see coming back into the system in the last year”.
“That was really what slowed down this process in the 2015-16 financial year, when we would’ve liked to put a lot more money into transformation,” the health secretary said. “But I think now we’re in a much, much better position to do that. We absolutely want to make sure that money is not an impediment to the rolling out of the STPs, because they are central to our vision.”
In fact, the recent NHS response to the horrific terrorist attack in Manchester, which saw staff working around the clock to cope with the unexpected demand, is a “very good reason for exactly what we’re trying to achieve with the STP process”, Hunt argued.
“The interesting lesson for me about the response in Manchester was how joined-up it was as a result of the terrific progress, under Jon Rouse’s leadership, that trusts have made in coming together as part of their STP,” he added. “I think they’ve probably gone further and faster than anywhere else in the country. I know it’s not been easy to do that, but it was extremely streamlined and effective.”
He also suggested that the government would be prepared to boost the region’s cash pot “if there are specific aspects of the response to those terrible events where there have been unexpected costs that the NHS incurred that wouldn’t be part of its normal response to emergency situations”.
STPs need local support
Asked by another audience member to explain the importance of bringing all local communities together into designing and delivering change, Hunt emphasised that the reasoning behind STPs is to bring about “fantastically beneficial” changes for patients.
“It’s a transformation that is wholly positive for the public,” the secretary of state said. “But people are passionate about their NHS and they obviously worry about any change that happens, and that’s why we have a responsibility to communicate that change. And that change is usually best not communicated by politicians, but by clinicians, because frankly you guys are trusted a lot more than we are.
“That’s why I think it’s really important to have that local engagement, and that’s why, when it comes to the big transformation plans, Simon Stevens and I are supporting them with every fibre in our bodies at a national level.
“But at a local level, we need you to be making the arguments. The evidence is that when you do that, even with potentially controversial changes, it’s quite possible to win the case to do them. But it does involve a lot of local engagement and I think that’s going to be one of the central challenges for the next few years.”
East Devon Watch 