Agenda item

National Health Service

It was moved by Councillor Mary Lea, seconded by Councillor Jayne Dunn, that this Council:-

(a)       notes the People’s March for the NHS Jarrow to Parliament which came through Sheffield between 25^th and 26^th August 2014;

(b)       recognises the threat to our NHS from legislation including the Health and Social Care Act (2012) and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; both of which put profits before people;

(c)        values the principle of our NHS to provide free, universal healthcare for all; and

(d)       supports the People’s March for the NHS along with its aims and intentions.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Roger Davison, seconded by Councillor Joe Otten, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the deletion of paragraphs (a), (b) and (d);

2.         the re-letterring of paragraph (c) as a new paragraph (a); and

3.         the addition of new paragraphs (b) to (g) as follows:-

(b)       supports the Government’s decision to protect NHS spending from the spending reductions that were caused by the previous Government’s record national deficit;

(c)        welcomes the £26 million increase in the 2011-12 revenue allocation for Sheffield Primary Care Trust, the additional £27 million increase in 2012-13 and the equivalent £16 million and £14 million increases in 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively;

(d)       recalls comments by the Shadow Health Secretary, the Rt. Hon. Andy Burnham, MP, in June 2010 that it would be “irresponsible” to increase NHS spending and therefore believes that a Labour government would have cut spending on the NHS rather than increase it;

(e)       believes that with Liberal Democrats in Government the country is seeing improving services across the NHS, with 6,000 more doctors, lower waiting times and new cancer drugs given to 30,000 people;

(f)        laments scaremongering that the Health and Social Care Act will lead to the privatisation of the NHS and notes that, in fact, the Government have prevented preferential contracts being granted to private companies by the previous Labour Government, which saw them paid £250m for operations they didn’t even perform; and

(g)       supports the Government’s policy of increasing funding for NHS services in Sheffield, as opposed to its belief that the Shadow Health Secretary would cut funding for the NHS.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived. 

The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried, as follows:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       notes the People’s March for the NHS Jarrow to Parliament which came through Sheffield between 25^th and 26^th August 2014;

(b)       recognises the threat to our NHS from legislation including the Health and Social Care Act (2012) and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; both of which put profits before people;

(c)        values the principle of our NHS to provide free, universal healthcare for all; and

(d)       supports the People’s March for the NHS along with its aims and intentions.

(Note: Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Richard Shaw, Rob Frost, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Diana Stimely, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, David Baker, Katie Condliffe and Vickie Priestley voted for paragraph (c) and against paragraphs (a), (b) and (d) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)