Cllr Lorna Dupré
County Councillor for the Sutton division
Report to Mepal Parish Council, Monday 10 October2016
DEVOLUTION
The next stage of the devolution process has been held up by government delays in getting the necessary orders drawn up. It is still expected that elections for a Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough will take place on the same day as the county council elections, on the first Thursday of May 2017.
MINOR INJURY UNITS
There have been more public meetings but no announcement as yet of any specific proposal. The county council’s Health Committee, to which I have just been appointed, carried out an exercise to scrutinise the Clinical Commissioning Group’s process in reviewing its urgent care facilities, and madesix recommendations:
- that the review recognises current and planned developments over a longer time frame so that its robustness in different circumstances can be tested;
- that, if an option is dependent on some form of expanded GP role,the practices concerned be identified, their capability be assessed and theircommitment be secured;
- that a full picture be developed of all the services which will operate inthe future (primary, urgent, emergency, out-patient etc) and how they will be accessedby different people in the community;
- that a specific and compelling communications program bedeveloped to encourage people to use the proposed new configuration;
- that a set of service standards (distance, access times, availability etc) be developed so that people can understand exactly what any new serviceconfiguration means to them and that these be set out, along with the financialconsiderations, when the various options are being compared;
- that, when total costs of different options are being presented, theseinclude the full costs of any expected diversions to other services especially A&E.
OUTPATIENT CLINICS
Meanwhile, however, it is good to hear that the CCG has managed to come to an arrangement for Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to provide outpatient clinics at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely and at Doddington Hospital from September next year.
The CCG have been looking for someone to provide the clinics at Ely and Doddington since Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust last year announced its intention to quit. The Trust will continue to provide outpatients services at the two hospitals for the next twelve months until Peterborough & Stamford take over.
JOINT SCRUTINY
The Health Committee has agreed to establish a discretionary Joint Committee with Peterborough City Council to scrutinise the proposals for merging Hinchingbrooke Hospital with Peterborough & Stamford Hospital Foundation Trust. Subject to Peterborough City Council’sFull Council agreement, the first meeting is scheduled for next Monday, 17 October.
LOCAL AUTHORITY HEALTH PROFILES
Public Health England has updatedits annual local authority health profiles. Theseuse a small set of indicators to provide a quick overview of health by countyand district. The Public Health Intelligence Team have produced some briefings to look at the indicators which currently rate worse than the national average These are all on Cambridgeshire Insight:
TOTAL TRANSPORT
A meeting of the county council’s Total Transport working group took place on Wednesday 5 October, to update on the implementation of the new school transport arrangements and smartcards. Some interesting and useful data are being collected via the smartcard readers, which may help inform future decisions. Like other areas of council spending, the financial future of public transport for next year and beyond is still under consideration.
A14
Work has started on the construction of site compounds and enabling works, with main construction work starting in late 2016 on Section 1(A1 Alconbury to Brampton Hut). Public exhibitions are also being held in areas closer to the works, including Swavesey and St Ives.
DEFINITIVE MAP AND STATEMENT OF RIGHTS OF WAY
The county council has published a consolidated and definitive map and statement of public rights of way. This consolidates thousands of records produced over the last 60 years for the former Counties of the Isle of Ely, Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire into a single document covering the modern County of Cambridgeshire. The record shows all changes to public rights of way that have taken place up to 11 May 2016, and a digital version is available to view on the county council’s website.
ONLINE PAYMENTS FOR LIBRARY SERVICES
From 1 September 2016, the library service have introduced the facility to make payments and donations of money online. The service will be developed and promoted during this month.
ROGUE TRADERS
Communities are being invited to take over guardianship of the county’s existing No Cold Calling Zones. Neighbourhood Watch coordinators are being asked to include nearby existing zones as part of their current role.
ASBESTOS
From 1 November 2016, an online form will be launched for residents to request the disposal of cement bonded asbestos. Under the new scheme, this will be limited to a bag that measures 2.59m x 1.37m and asmall administration fee of £6 will be introduced to cover the cost of handling the request and issuing the bags. The Council does not have a duty to dispose of construction and demolition waste that includes home improvement, repairs, alterations and preparatory works even when the work is carried out by the householder.
BUSINESS PLANNING
Seminars are now starting to take place to enable councillors to start thinking about next year’s county council budget. As last year, there are likely to be clear areas of difference about levels of council tax increase and, consequently, levels of savings required.
MEET YOUR COUNCILLOR
Dates for my forthcoming Meet Your Councillor surgeries in the Community Room at the school in Sutton, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm are
- Tuesday 11 October
- Tuesday 8 November
Cllr Lorna Dupré
County Councillor for the Sutton division