Agenda item

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item(s) on the agenda will have three minutes to put their question(s) to the respective Executive Member(s).  Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one short supplementary question. 

 

A number of questions will be submitted at the meeting by Andrew Birchall on behalf of the Protect Chorley hospital from Cuts and Privatisation Campaign (enclosed)

 

The Executive Leader will respond to these questions.

A number of questions were submitted on behalf of the Protect Chorley Hospital from Cuts and Privatisation against Item 3a on the agenda: NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

 

A written response to each of the thirteen questions was provided by The Executive Leader and circulated at the meeting as follows:

 

It is important to note through the responses to all of the questions that Chorley Council does not have a formal role in the development or agreement of Sustainability and Transformation Plans, nor any of the plans that could be associated with them (such as commissioning strategies)

 

They are primarily NHS documents – requested from health economies from NHS England. The focus in the NH England planning guidance states that the NHS should take a system wide view of change (including local government). However, its focus is then on social care when it refers to working with local government. This means that attention is focussed on the county council, particularly through the health and wellbeing board, which is managed and le by the county council.

 

However, even with these caveats, Chorley Council has stated that it wants to protect the interests of its residents through any changes to public services. This means that we will and have lobbied other organisations where we think change is needed.

 

Also it should be noted that the responses to these questions are based on the agreed position of the entire Council, and not representative of any individual Councillor or Group. Some points raised have not been subject to decisions of the full Council and the attendant due process, and are proffered in a spirit of openness and transparency. Therefore some current Council answers and position may be subject to change by future due process.

 

1.     When did you first become involved in the Commissioning, Sustainability, and Transformation plans?

 

Chorley Council’s Chief Executive has acted as the representative of the Lancashire district councils in the development of the STP. As such, he was first involved in the STP process in January 2016. He has been involved as a representative of district councils, but without any decision making power, with a particular focus on the prevention work stream.

 

Councillors have not had any direct involvement in the sustainability and transformation plans, other than to be invited and attend engagement events for Our Health, Our Care in November 2016.

 

2.     What Health and Social Care meetings are the Council involved in and could you please list the organisations, and how often they meet?

 

The Council is represented on the county council’s health scrutiny committee in a non-voting capacity by Councillor Hasina Khan. She also took part in the recent review undertaken by the committee into the closure of the Emergency Department at Chorley Hospital. The membership of the Committee can be found on the county council’s website:

https://council.lancashire.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=182

 

The Chief Executive chairs the health and wellbeing partnership for central Lancashire. This partnership meets on a quarterly basis. The organisations represented on the partnership are; Chorley Council, South Ribble Borough Council, Preston City Council, Ribble Valley Borough Council. Lancashire County Council Chorley and South Ribble and Greater Preston CCGs, Lancashire Care Foundation Trust and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.

 

The Chief Executive of Chorley Council sits on the Lancashire Health and Wellbeing Board as a representative of Lancashire district council Chief executives. The membership of the board can be found on the county council’s website:

https://council.lancashire.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=825

 

The Council Leader was appointed as the Council representative on the LTHTR Board of Governors in ay this year after we lobbied to have District Council representation across central Lancashire reinstated after it was removed a number of years ago.

 

3.     Where can we find the minutes of these meetings?

 

The minutes of the county council’s health scrutiny committee can be found on the county council website.

 

The minutes of the central Lancashire health and wellbeing partnership are not published, but we can make them available if you would like.

 

The minutes of the central Lancashire health and wellbeing board can be found on the county council’s website.

 

The minutes of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals council of governors are available here:

http://www.lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk/council-of-governors-papers

 

4.     Who attends on behalf of the council and what is their remit?

 

The representation of the council is set out in the answer to the earlier question.

 

Where the Chief Executive represents other district council Chief executives, his remit is to provide representation for other district Chief Executives, and to provide them with updates on the work being undertaken. In this capacity, he is not representing Chorley Council as a single organisation.

 

5.     Is your role to help develop publicly owned and democratically accountable and controlled Health and Social Care facilities?

As a district council, Chorley Council does not have any role in the control, commissioning or provision of health and social care facilities.

 

However, the council has been proactive in giving its views on health and social acre facilities, most notably the closure of the Emergency Department at Chorley Hospital and the letting of the contract for the Urgent Care Centre.

 

In addition, the council continues to work towards wider public service reform, including seeking to work towards changed local government structures to make services more sustainable. In that decision, the council was clear that the reason for wanting change is to make public services sustainable, while retaining community identity and local accountability.

 

6.     Does the Council have a plan or policy for the future of Health and Social Care?

 

No, although the council has set out its broad ambitions in its future governance models work and at its recent full council meeting.

 

7.     Does the Council intend to be involved in co-commissioning?

 

Chorley Council doesn’t have any role in commissioning. This lies with the county council.

 

8.     Where is the money to invest in new facilities coming from?

 

The council is not involved in the provision of new facilities for health and social care.

 

9.     Which cabinet member is responsible for overseeing and communicating with other Health and Social Care organisations and the public?

 

The Executive Leader has responsibility for Public Service Reform. The report to the Executive Cabinet tonight recommends that Councillor Hasina Khan will continue to take a role in representing the council with regard to health and wellbeing matters.

 

10.  Do you intend to hold public meetings to inform the public of your policy, role and the changes that are proposed?

 

While the council is committed to engaging with the public, we have not got a role in the changes proposed within the STP. We will continue to make our buildings available to facilitate engagement events, and to support our residents in campaigns to protect their services.

 

11.  Are your discussions part of the future devolved Governance of Local Government across Lancashire and south Cumbria?

 

Chorley Council is involved in the combined authority for Lancashire. This may involve a devolution proposal to government, but it is not yet at this stage. Any proposals will require the agreement of a meeting of full council.

 

12.  Will these devolution plans be put before the public on whether they want devolution or not?

 

We would expect significant engagement of the public in respect of any devolution proposals before they were agreed.

 

13.  At what point would you say you are unwilling to be involved in the STP’s?

 

As a council, we are not currently involved in the STP process. We will continue to work to ensure plans achieve changes that need to happen, but this also means making public services better at meeting the needs of our residents and more democratically accountable to local areas.

 

A spokesperson for the Protect Chorley Hospital from Cuts and Privatisation who was present at the meeting spoke of their concerns of the STP process and provided a background of the main issues before the Cabinet debated the responses given.