THE HOME Secretary has agreed to review unanticipated risks of local government and NHS re-organisation as Worcestershire’s elected officials raise concerns.
Dame Harriett Baldwin, West Worcestershire MP, called on the Home Secretary to investigate concerns raised by West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion in a letter addressed to elected official.
Mr Campion wrote to Dame Harriett to warn children and vulnerable people could ‘fall through the cracks’ in safeguarding services as a result of organisational changes being implemented across the region.
Local NHS services are being reconfigured to cluster NHS Trusts together with two new Integrated Care Boards. One will serve Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Coventry and another will serve Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
In addition, the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government is seeking to abolish a whole tier of local government resulting in the eradication of district councils.
The senior leadership at West Mercia Police has expressed concerns children and vulnerable people will be placed at extra risk as it will have to deal with two separate bodies across its force area.
During a question by Dame Harriett in the House of Commons, she raised the concerns of the local police with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who agreed to look into the matter and emphasized the importance of strong local relationships to prevent crime.
Dame Harriett said: “The Government is enforcing a significant change in local government and in parallel its health commissioners are being reorganized to cover much larger geographical areas which are not aligned with West Mercia.
“These are important changes that have not been subject to the scrutiny of Parliament and it seems the new boundaries are also being drawn up without any proper local consultation or scrutiny, and without any expert local views.
“Our local police tell me they are concerned about these changes which risk putting the most vulnerable people at greater risk of slipping out of the normal support systems.
“I have urged the Home Secretary to discuss this matter with her Cabinet colleagues and ensure all the correct steps are taken to protect all of our local people and give them the best possible public services.”
