2 June 2006
Mark Harper MP (Forest of Dean), Laurence Robertson MP (Tewkesbury) and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP (Cotswold) have stepped up the pressure on Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt over the proposed Gloucestershire health cuts. They are demanding action to match her words – good intentions count for nothing if they are not delivered by Government.
Today they received an unsatisfactory reply from their letter demanding a meeting (sent 10 May) and are writing to her again, to make clear the huge community feeling across the county highlighted by public demonstrations in Winchcombe, Stroud and the Forest of Dean. The latter saw 6,000 people attend a Rally at Speech House Field on Wednesday.
Commenting on the letter, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “The Secretary of State is trying to avoid meeting with us and leaves it to her junior minister. Since she has already personally met with the Gloucester MP in a highly publicised meeting, we feel that the rest of the County deserves the same attention at the highest level. A failure to do so would leave the impression that the Labour Government was playing party politics with our health service. That is not at all acceptable to the people of Gloucestershire.”
Mark Harper said: “The cuts proposed in Gloucestershire have been prompted by NHS deficits, but there is a contradiction at the heart of Government policy. The Trusts tell us that the government is insisting that they have to: recover deficits for previous years, balance their books for 2006-07 and pay for bailing out other areas - all within this financial year. I have a letter from the Secretary of State herself saying something completely different – a situation which wouldn’t require these cuts. On a number of occasions she has failed to clear this up. If she continues to do so she cannot avoid responsibility for these cuts to our local services.”
In conclusion, Laurence Robertson said: “The Secretary of State makes great play of the funding across the whole region. However, Gloucestershire doesn’t get a fair share; and Avon and Wiltshire are dealt with more generously. This funding gap must be fixed. It simply isn’t fair for Gloucestershire to be treated as a second-class county.”
Today they received an unsatisfactory reply from their letter demanding a meeting (sent 10 May) and are writing to her again, to make clear the huge community feeling across the county highlighted by public demonstrations in Winchcombe, Stroud and the Forest of Dean. The latter saw 6,000 people attend a Rally at Speech House Field on Wednesday.
Commenting on the letter, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “The Secretary of State is trying to avoid meeting with us and leaves it to her junior minister. Since she has already personally met with the Gloucester MP in a highly publicised meeting, we feel that the rest of the County deserves the same attention at the highest level. A failure to do so would leave the impression that the Labour Government was playing party politics with our health service. That is not at all acceptable to the people of Gloucestershire.”
Mark Harper said: “The cuts proposed in Gloucestershire have been prompted by NHS deficits, but there is a contradiction at the heart of Government policy. The Trusts tell us that the government is insisting that they have to: recover deficits for previous years, balance their books for 2006-07 and pay for bailing out other areas - all within this financial year. I have a letter from the Secretary of State herself saying something completely different – a situation which wouldn’t require these cuts. On a number of occasions she has failed to clear this up. If she continues to do so she cannot avoid responsibility for these cuts to our local services.”
In conclusion, Laurence Robertson said: “The Secretary of State makes great play of the funding across the whole region. However, Gloucestershire doesn’t get a fair share; and Avon and Wiltshire are dealt with more generously. This funding gap must be fixed. It simply isn’t fair for Gloucestershire to be treated as a second-class county.”
