Agenda item

The following Notices of Motion submitted to the County Council by Councillor’s Connett and Way have been referred to the Cabinet in accordance with Standing Order 8(2) have been referred to the Cabinet for consideration, to refer it to another committee or make a recommendation back to the Council:

(a)   Public Health (Councillor Connett)

(b)   Boniface Patron Saint of Devon (Councillor Way)

(a) Public Health (Councillor Connett)

Councillors Dewhirst, Way and Whitton attended in accordance with 25(2) and spoke to this item).

Devon County Council notes:

·         the vital role played by Public Health in helping Devon residents to lead healthier lives by, for example, avoiding diseases, unwanted pregnancies, support to stop smoking, and eating better; and

·         with grave concern the announcement of a further £85m cut to the Public Health Budget, as one of 12 Ministerial statements published by the Government on the last day of the Parliamentary term before Christmas, only weeks after the Secretary of State for Health described prevention as his priority.

This is on top of cuts to the Public Health budget announced since Summer 2015, now totalling just over £600 million.

This Council meeting further notes:

·         the comments of the Health Foundation, who described these cuts as a false economy and who have calculated that an additional £3bn a year is required to reverse the impact of government cuts to the Public Health grant to date and have called for this increased budget to be allocated according to need; and

·         the warnings from the King’s Fund that such cuts could put pressure on councils to cut non-statutory sexual health prevention services, which could lead to more sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.

This Council believes that our Public Health team perform vital work to help keep the residents of Devon healthy and to avoid more costly admissions to hospital and other interventions by our NHS and that this should be properly funded by central Government.

This Council meeting resolves to:

·         thank our Director of Public Health and her team for the great work they do across Devon despite continued financial challenges;

·         condemn the Government’s use of the time just before Christmas to make announcements such as this;

·         call on the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member to consider carefully the required cuts to services will be implemented; and

·         ask the Leader and Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Health, calling on the Government to deliver increased investment in Public Health and to support a sustainable health and social care system by taking a “prevention first” approach.

Members considered the Officer’s factual briefing note on the matter (CSO/19/9) which referred to the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review and reductions to the public health grant (the national impact being a reduction of 2.2% in 2016/17, 2.5% in 2017/18 and 2.6% in each of the two following years), the allocation to Devon which was equivalent to £34 per head of population, significantly less than the national average (£59 per head). The briefing note recognised the issues raised by the Motion were important and that the Council wholly endorsed the importance of prevention and early intervention and a need to invest in this approach.

The Cabinet considered the recommendations now before them and the actions proposed and already undertaken and any other relevant factors (e.g. financial, environmental, risk management and equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact): 

it was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor Croad, and

RESOLVED that the Council:

(a) be asked to endorse the work of the Director of Public Health and the team in managing the Public Health Grant cuts and the challenges that this causes for improving the health of the population by thinking and working innovatively and creatively with wider partners to support improved outcomes;

(b) note that Budget announcements are known to arrive at this time of year and there will be transparency about the implications of that budget as part of the Council’s budget setting process;

(c) note that the budget has been set for 2019/20 and no reductions are currently planned or required as the budget reductions have been managed over time and were reported as early as 2016 and that impact assessments will also continue to be undertaken; and

(d) be asked to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care seeking increased investment in Public Health and assurance that the investment in prevention in the NHS will support primary prevention and early intervention as well as secondary and tertiary prevention.       

(b) Saint Boniface - Patron Saint of Devon (Councillor Way)

(Councillor Way attended in accordance with Standing Order 8 and Councillor Whitton attended in accordance with 25(2) and spoke to this item).

There is increasing interest in Crediton-born Winfrith, who became Saint Boniface, being recognised as Patron Saint of Devon. The Boniface Link Association is a secular organisation campaigning for the adoption of Boniface as Patron Saint of Devon. With links to Fulda in Germany and Dokkum in Holland, this initiative has gained letters of support from many churches and prominent civic figures from across the county.

Devon’s most famous native-born saint, Boniface was born in the Crediton area circa 680AD. He is highly regarded for his missionary work across a large part of Europe. A significant historical figure he is often referred to as the First European. He studied at the monastery at Exeter, then at the monastery at Nursling, near Southampton.

In 716 he set sail to convert the tribes in Frisia (now Friesland) in the Netherlands to Christianity. Subsequent work in Frisia and Hesse gave him a reputation as an outstanding missionary and administrator. In 722, Pope Gregory made him Bishop of all Germany East of the Rhine. Much of his later work laid the foundations of Charlemagne’s Holy Roman Empire 50 years later. In 754 he was martyred at Dokkum and buried at Fulda in Hesse. 

The national shrine to Boniface is at the Roman Catholic church at Crediton and the many references to him in Crediton’s Parish church attract visitors to the town. A blue plaque can be seen at Tolleys, Crediton traditionally regarded as his birth place. An impressive statue of St Boniface is located at Newcombes Meadow.

Proud of Devon’s heritage and recognising Boniface as a significant historic figure this Council supports the initiative to adopt Saint Boniface as Patron Saint of Devon.

Members considered the Officer’s factual briefing note on the matter (CSO/19/9) which referred to the processes of canonization for both the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Catholic Churches and the Church of England (which had no mechanism for canonising saints). It also highlighted the work of the Boniface Link Association and their view that celebrating St. Boniface as Devon’s patron saint could celebrate its Saxon heritage, to encourage tourism and support the economy.  The Briefing also outlined the support received from all the main churches and letters from the Bishop of Plymouth, Bishop of Exeter, Senior Pastor at Crediton Congregational Church, Crediton Methodist Church and Rector of the Orthodox Parish of the Holy Prophet Elias.  It was also understood that the Bishop of Exeter would be making an announcement in the next few months about an initiative that honoured and commemorated St Boniface.

The Cabinet considered the recommendations now before them and the actions now proposed and already undertaken and any other relevant factors (e.g. public health, financial, environmental, risk management and equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact):

it was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED that the Council;

(a) note the work of the Boniface Link Association (Crediton) and also the mechanism by which Boniface is honoured in the national church calendar on 5th June;

(b) note the anticipated announcement by the Bishop of Exeter about an initiative that honours and commemorates St Boniface; and

(c) supports the work of the Boniface Link Association in working towards the adoption of St Boniface as the patron saint of Devon and in line with the letters of support received from the Bishop of Plymouth, Bishop of Exeter, Senior Pastor at Crediton Congregational Church, Crediton Methodist Church and Rector of the Orthodox Parish of the Holy Prophet Elias, also lends it support to the Notice of Motion.