Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Defend Our NHS wrote to all candidates who are standing in the Shropshire Council election taking place on May 4th requesting their positions on a number of health issues. Candidates who had not responded to the initial letter were then sent a second, reminder, letter on April 22nd.
In all, we received 83 responses. This represents responses from 39% of the candidates. We received no response from Conservative candidates, or any explanation from the Conservative Party as to why they were not taking part in the survey. If we exclude the 73 Conservative candidates, then the response rate from the other candidates was 59%.
All the questions were directly related to the candidates’ responsibilities if they are elected as councillors. No questions were asked about issues on which they would not have a direct responsibility.
The survey covers a number of specific areas where the Council has responsibility. The responsibility for Public Health, including health visiting and funding for Healthwatch, was transferred to Shropshire Council by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The Better Care Fund is the joint responsibility of Shropshire Council and the local NHS. The Sustainability and Transformation Plan, an initiative to reorganise healthcare in Shropshire, has Shropshire Council as an equal partner, with the Chief Executive of the Council leading the reorganisation of community health services in the county. The Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee has a statutory right to slow down, and possibly prevent, implementation of cuts through changes in health services by referring them to the Secretary of State for final decision.
Voters in each of the Electoral Divisions may wish to read the responses and take them into consideration when making their decision about who to vote for.
The breakdown summary of responses:
| Party | Candidates | Responses to Survey |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 73 | 0 |
| Federalist | 1 | 1 |
| Green | 37 | 24 |
| Independent | 14 | 8 |
| Labour | 33 | 22 |
| Liberal Democrat | 47 | 24 |
| UKIP | 9 | 4 |
To see the detailed responses, click on the Division you are interested in, or, for a summary by party, click here.
Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Defend Our NHS 