Belle Vue

Belle Vue Division elects one Councillor.

Candidates:
Division Name Party Survey
Belle Vue CLARK, Daniel Adam LD  
Belle Vue LATHAM, Dave Grn  
Belle Vue TAYLOR, Harry Lab  
Belle Vue WRAY, Simon James Con (Did not respond)
1. Will you support sufficient funding to enable all Shropshire’s Public Health programmes to continue, and to allow the development and implementation of new programmes to improve the health of Shropshire people?

Name Party Q1
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes
LATHAM, Dave Grn Yes
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment1
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Do support this, but with the caveat that clearly not all new programmes can be supported, and so the missing element here is thorough and fair evaluation of which programmes should be prioritised to improve the health of Shropshire people
LATHAM, Dave Grn We need a fully funded NHS. This is essential for the health of the public and NHS staff alike
2. Will you support sufficient funding for health visiting in Shropshire to ensure the full implementation of NHS England’s recommended model: ‘The universal health visitor reviews’ – five mandated reviews?

Name Party Q2
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes
LATHAM, Dave Grn Yes
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Yes
Comments and explanations: None
3. Will you support Shropshire Council commissioning and subsidising public transport sufficient to enable all patients without their own transport to access health services reliably?

Name Party Q3
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes
LATHAM, Dave Grn Yes
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Ye
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment3
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes, with the caveat that “all patients” should probably be clarified further
LATHAM, Dave Grn Public transport in Shropshire needs better funding and improving in general. I support this idea but additional/alternative solutions should also be explored for the common good of all residents.
4. Will you support the funding of Healthwatch at a level sufficient to fully exercise its statutory role, and do you agree that it should be able to determine its own programmes of work independent of any Council veto?

Name Party Q4
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes
LATHAM, Dave Grn Unsure
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment4
LATHAM, Dave Grn Healthwatch is very important and should be free to make recommendations without fear of politicians. It must be fully funded and independent to perform its role properly. We need to work together to make sure that effective and realistic solutions can be implemented. As I understand it, local authorities can’t go against health watch advice without public written justification so I am unsure what is meant by the term ‘council veto’ in the question. I would certainly push for the council, which is unfortunately likely to be conservative led again, to be held fully to account when they go against Healthwatch advice in pursuit of austerity measures that damage our NHS.
5. Do you agree that the Health and Wellbeing Board should only apply the Better Care Fund on programmes that will improve health and wellbeing, rather than transferring the cost of provision from the NHS to the Council, voluntary organisations, and individual patients?

Name Party Q5
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Unsure
LATHAM, Dave Grn Yes
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment5
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Support the general aim, but not have the expertise to specifically answer this
LATHAM, Dave Grn The NHS should be free at the point of use – making patients pay would lead to an unfair 2 tier systems. Although voluntary organisations who support services should be applauded, we should never get to a place where services can only survive due to the generosity of these volunteers. We need a fully funded NHS.
6. Will you vote against endorsement of the current Shropshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) in which Shropshire Council is a partner?

Name Party Q6
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes
LATHAM, Dave Grn Yes
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment6
LATHAM, Dave Grn I support 2 A&Es in Shropshire. We are a large county and it is not safe to cut funding and provision due to the ideological austerity dogma of the Conservatives. In its current form, the STP is not a good plan for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Clearly, this is a national issue of funding. We need a stronger MP who will fight the government cuts. We also need to find a way to safely staff and resource 2 A&Es
7. Will you vote against endorsement of future versions of the STP if it does not meet the following red lines: (a) no reduction of provision or access to in-County secondary care, including emergency care; (b) no reduction of hospital beds in either RSH or PRH unless bed occupancy rates have been running at 85% consistently for 12 months; (c) no reduction in acute/secondary care services that are being transferred to the community without high quality evidence based community provision being in place, fully operational, and proven to be successful; (d) no reduction in beds and service provision at our community hospitals; (e) a real increase in community mental health provision; (f) the continued provision of accessible Midwife-Led Maternity Units, in line with national guidance and with no reduction in current services; (g) a real improvement in ambulance provision to ensure NHS England target response times can be met across the County; (h) no increase in the fragmentation or privatisation of services?

Name Party Q7
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes
LATHAM, Dave Grn Yes
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment7
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Do support this generally, although there a lot of points here and not entirely clear what is covered by “fragmentation” of services
LATHAM, Dave Grn We also need the STP to guarantee to staff and resource these essential services properly. The NHS needs to attract and pay staff accordingly and not vilify them like in the recent Junior Doctor dispute.
8. If a member of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee, or the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, will you ensure that there is full public consultation on any proposed changes to NHS service that might negatively impact any patients, and if such proposals are subsequently agreed by the relevant NHS body, will you vote to refer the proposals to the Secretary of State for Health?

Name Party Q8
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Yes
LATHAM, Dave Grn Yes
TAYLOR, Harry Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment8
CLARK, Daniel Adam LD Very much in favour of improving the quality of consultation on changes