Agenda item - NHS White Paper and Public Involvement

Proposed by Councillor Shanks on behalf of the Green Group.

134.1      Councillor Peltzer Dunn moved a point of order and sought clarification with regard to the first bullet point in the motion and whether the Council was in a position to instruct Group Leaders to take action.

134.2      The Monitoring Officer confirmed that Council could only request Group Leaders to consider taking action and suggested that the bullet point be amended accordingly should the amendment be carried.

134.3      The Mayor noted the advice and stated that should the amendment be carried then the motion would be revised to reflect the required change of wording.

134.4      The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Shanks on behalf of the Green Group and formally seconded by Councillor Nield.

134.5      Councillor Grimshaw moved an amendment on behalf of the Labour Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Evans.

134.6      Councillor McNair moved and amendment on behalf of the Conservative Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Bagaeen.

134.7      Councillor Nield confirmed that the Green Group would accept the Labour amendment but could not accept the Conservative amendment.

134.8      The Mayor noted that the Conservative Group amendment had not been accepted and therefore put it to the vote and called on the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn followed by each of the Independent Members:

Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were against the amendment and this was confirmed by the Green Group Members;

Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were against the amendment and this was confirmed by the Labour Group Members;

Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative were in favour of the amendment and this was confirmed by the Conservative Group Members;

Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting against the amendment;

Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she wished to abstain from voting on the amendment;

Councillor Janio confirmed that he wished to abstain from voting on the amendment;

Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting against the amendment.

134.9      The Mayor confirmed that the amendment had been lost.

134.10   The Mayor noted that the Labour amendment had been accepted and therefore put the following motion as amended to the vote:

Council notes the publication of the NHS White Paper. We welcome the recognition of the importance of place-based care, despite no long-term funding solution for adult social care but we ask for thorough consultation on the changes proposed.

The White Paper recognises the critical role of local government to the health and wellbeing of our communities, but proposes new powers for the Secretary Of State for Health and Social Care which could undermine local leadership, the local accountability of the NHS, and local government’s public health responsibilities.

This council applauds the work of our Public Health and Adult Social Care Teams during this pandemic and the work of all council officers in keeping council services going during these difficult times.

Council therefore resolves that:

·           All party Leaders be requested to write to the NHS Leads asking for them to consult the City Council and residents on the White Paper, so that our local communities can have meaningful input into the proposals for the NHS;

·           To ask the CEO to write to local and national NHS Leads, to express our wish for representation of both officers and members from each Local Authority area covered in any proposed Integrated Care Systems, to ensure accountability, transparency and oversight;

·           To ask the CEO to write to the Minister of Health as part of the White Paper consultation and seek assurance that these reforms will not remove or undermine scrutiny of the NHS through Local Authority bodies such as Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees and independent bodies such as Healthwatch;

·           And further, to ask the CEO to write to the Minister of Health and local MPs to ask for sufficient resources for public health to address health inequalities and deal with any future pandemic, including responsibility for test and trace systems.

134.11   The Mayor then called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn followed by each of the Independent Members:

Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in favour of the motion and this was confirmed by the Green Group Members;

Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were in favour of the motion and this was confirmed by the Labour Group Members;

Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative were against the motion and this was confirmed by the Conservative Group Members;

Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting for the motion;

Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she wished to abstain from voting on the motion;

Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting for the motion;

Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting for the motion.

134.12   The Mayor confirmed that the motion had been carried.