What have the Tories have to hide in Wiltshire Health Care?

At the meeting of the Wiltshire Council Health Select committee on Thursday the Conservative group on Wiltshire Council broke with convention and stopped an opposition member from being either Chair or Vice-Chair of the committee.

Liberal Democrats are now asking what the Conservative administration has to hide. Speaking after the meeting the Leader of the Lib Dem Group on Wiltshire Council commented, "This is really worrying for the people of Wiltshire. The Conservatives have tried to block opposition members from holding any position where they can influence how the provision of healthcare in Wiltshire is being delivered.

"It was only after a heated debate at the last full council that the Conservatives finally agreed that the Lib Dems could send a representative to the new Health and Wellbeing Board, but even then they will not be allowed a vote at the table.

"And then today we find that the Conservatives have broken convention and chosen to take both the Chair and Vice-Chair role for themselves thus blocking anyone from the opposition from having a role in setting the committees agenda and work plan.

"The whole concept of Overview and Scrutiny is that it is meant to work above politics, and this has usually been managed by ensuring that representatives of both the administration and the opposition are part of the management of it.

"Today the Conservatives have signalled that they no longer want to see cross-party working in healthcare in Wiltshire. Instead they want to control the agenda and, it would appear, prevent the opposition from being able to check and challenge as the council takes on these important new responsibilities".