South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats

Council leader Jane Scott has announced changes to the way the council is managed. The new structure will see the number of corporate directors increased from three to four. Details below. The aim of unifying health and social care, which has been much discussed over the years but with little progress, is to be encouraged by the adult social care post being jointly funded by WC and the NHS. The structure will see an additional cost to the taxpayer of 0.5 FTE.

The Wiltshire Online programme is designed to provide a fibre broadband service to those premises that commercial providers consider to be financially non-viable - about 40% of the county. The council's approach is designed to deliver fibre broadband to the greatest number of premises for the budget available.

What(ever) next? Here's a message from Stephen Dorrell, Chair of the European Movement.

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"At the beginning of the General Election campaign Theresa May said she was seeking a mandate to negotiate her sort of Brexit; the result denies her that mandate.

The Prime Minister's version of Brexit was set out in the Conservative election manifesto; it said that sovereignty was a red line, and concluded that Britain must withdraw from both the Single Market and the Customs Union. In doing so it threatened our economic interests, and funding for our public services.

An application for change of use of the Westfield Road pub, which has been closed for some time, has been submitted to Wiltshire Council. It would be turned into a convenience store with a flat above and with five houses to the rear of the site.

More details on WC website here

The NHS in the Wiltshire area could lose scores of staff as a result of Theresa May's extreme version of Brexit, the Liberal Democrats have warned.

42% of nurses and over half of all doctors from the EU are considering leaving because of Brexit, according to recent research. This means, forexample, that an estimated 150 NHS staff are at risk of leaving the Royal United Hospital including 14 doctors and 45 nurses.

This could create a million pound bill to re-hire doctors and nurses from the EU after 2019, due to Theresa May's plans for a £2000 immigration skills charge for each doctor, nurse and health worker brought in from abroad.

The Liberal Democrats have called for an immediate guarantee that all EU nationals in the UK, including those working in the NHS and social care, can stay after Brexit.

Liberal Democrat candidate Trevor Carbin said:

"Our hospitals in depend on doctors, nurses and other support staff from the EU. But many are now planning to leave because of the uncertainty caused by Brexit.

"We must guarantee their rights to stay here immediately to prevent a damaging exodus of these skilled and hard-working people. Our NHS, and the care we all rely on, would suffer without them.

"The NHS is far too precious to be damaged by Theresa May's decision to pursue a UKIP-style Brexit.

"The Liberal Democrats will resist Theresa May's extreme Brexit and would give the people the final say, with the choice to remain in the European Union if they don't like the deal on offer."


Notes

1. More than half (55.6%) of the 10,000 doctors from the EU working in the NHS are now considering leaving the UK because of the referendum result, according to a survey conducted by the General Medical Council (link)

2. Survey data suggests that up to 26,500 members of NHS staff from the EU could leave the UK as a result of Brexit (link)

3. Full figures on the number EU nationals by local NHS trust and estimates of those considering leaving the UK because of Brexit can be found here

4. The Liberal Democrat manifesto commits to immediately guaranteeing the rights of all EU nationals working in the NHS and social care. (link)

Plans by Theresa May to axe free school lunches would waste the £786,427 invested in the county to upgrade school kitchens, according to the Liberal Democrats.

It comes after figures revealed 13,630 children in Wiltshire are set to lose out under the Conservative proposals.

The coalition government invested £160m upgrading school kitchen facilities to enable them to prepare hot lunches.

A message from Churches Together:

"Unfortunately this evening's hustings at All Saints, Westbury, has had to be cancelled. Nationally, in the light of the Manchester tragedy, the cancellation of campaigning has impacted on local events with one of the major parties deciding it is appropriate to continue standing aside from all national and local campaigning activity. It may be that other parties clarify similar expressions of ongoing suspension as the day unfolds. Some will see this as an appropriate decision, while others will see it as a victory for terrorism.

"Child poverty has recently reached 4 million - and is projected by the Institute for Fiscal Studies to rise to 5.1 million by the end of the next parliament (assuming it's a five-year term). It's an urgent issue that requires urgent action.

At Child Poverty Action Group we work on behalf of the one in four children in the UK growing up in poverty. We use our understanding of what causes poverty and the impact it has on children's lives to put forward policies that will prevent and solve poverty - for good. And we work with policy makers to identify practical changes that will make a difference to families.