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Government making ‘progress’ on Cornwall devolution deal

The chancellor, George Osborne, has confirmed that “progress” is being made on a major plan to give Cornwall a greater say over local decisions, particularly with regards to health and social care. 

The local authority put forward its ‘Case for Cornwall’ plan before the General Election, which stated that by 2020 it will have achieved an “innovative and sustainable” model for joint commissioning and procurement of health, social care and welfare totalling £2bn. 

During his Budget Speech, Osborne said: “In the first of our new county deals we’re making progress on a major plan to give Cornwall a greater say over local decisions.” 

During a meeting of the Cabinet today, papers were presented to members which stated that its proactive and direct approach has “paid dividends” and that the government appears persuaded that Cornwall has a strong case for having greater control over its own affairs. 

However, it was noted that members need to be clear that there is a difference between the Case for Cornwall and the government’s proposed deal for Cornwall. The former reflects the council’s desire for enhanced powers and freedoms across a broad range of themes whilst the government’s offer will be limited to that which it is prepared to see transferred to, or empowered at, a local level. 

The paper said that Cornwall’s proposals are based on working within the existing architecture for health and local government with both the council and the Clinical Commissioning Group retaining their existing statutory responsibilities whilst moving to a single, place-based budget for Cornwall. 

“We will bring together the functions of commissioning across health and social care, under a simpler, constituted governance framework, with a focus on commissioning for outcomes,” said the local authority. “In the first instance the domiciliary care and care at home budget will be unified and commissioning will be led by NHS Kernow from 1 April 2016. 

“The budget for Children’s Community services will also be unified and commissioning led by Cornwall Council from 1 April 2016.” 

It was noted that the unification of the remaining budgets and commissioning functions would be determined during year one of the programme as part of the development of the commissioning strategy. 

On top of this, in a subsequent phase, the council with the NHS providers will develop their approach to the aligning of social care provision and the integration of assessment and care management. 

In response to the comments made by the chancellor, Cornwall Council leader John Pollard said “As I have stated over the past few months, we have been working with partners to prepare a ‘Case for Cornwall’ which sets out ambitious proposals for greater powers, freedoms, flexibilities and support to be given by the government to Cornwall. 

“These proposals are designed to allow the people of Cornwall to benefit from an integrated health and social care system, significant economic growth, more affordable homes, greater access to employment and training opportunities, together with a much improved public transport network. 

“As such we welcome today’s positive comments from the Chancellor which set out the Government’s plans to honour its manifesto commitment to devolve far reaching powers from London to counties and look forward to continuing to work with civil servants to agree a Cornwall Deal which enables the Case for Cornwall proposals to be delivered.” 

NHS Kernow managing director Joy Youart welcomed today’s national announcement. 

“This is in line with our ethos of integrating health and social care, empowering local communities to have greater ownership of decisions and resources, tailored to local needs. It could enable more resources to focus directly on local patient care and outcomes,” she said. 

“Our ambition is to develop a service people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly can be proud of. We have already received national acclaim for our innovative work in starting to integrate health and social care – including in the NHS’s Five Year Forward View – with the emphasis on keeping people well and as independent as possible, easing pressure on hospitals and focusing on services in the community closer to home." 

The County Councils Network  director Simon Edwards  added the deal would not only be “ground-breaking” in enabling real service reform and sustainable growth in the localities, but in setting a precedent for the empowerment of county communities across the country. 

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