At end of Motion F3 (line 85), insert:
Conference believes that voluntary work is boosted more effectively by the concrete measures set out in these policies, and by adequate public funding for the charitable and not-for-profit sector when delivering public services, than by mere sloganeering and nebulous references to the “Big Society”.
Saturday 10.45 – F5 – Updating the NHS
Delete lines 6-15Amend line 16 to read:
Conference welcomes much of the vision for the NHS set out in the Government’s White Paper ...
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Conference recognises however that all of the above policies and aspirations can be achieved without adopting the damaging and unjustified market-based approach that is proposed.
Conference therefore reaffirms existing Liberal Democrat health and localism policies which call for healthcare commissioning to be carried out by locally elected health boards or local authorities, with the ability to vary a fair local tax in order to invest in local healthcare services;
Conference regrets that some of the proposed reforms have never been Liberal Democrat policy, did not feature in our manifesto or in the Coalition agreement, which instead called for an end to large-scale top-down reorganisations.
Conference therefore calls on Liberal Democrats in Parliament to seek to amend the Health bill to provide for
a) more democratically accountable commissioning
b) a much greater degree of co-terminosity between local authorities and commissioning areas
c) no decision about the spending of NHS funds to be made in private and without proper consultation, as can take place by the proposed GP consortia
d) the complete ruling out of any competition based on price to prevent loss-leading corporate providers under-cutting NHS tariffs, and to ensure that healthcare providers “compete” on quality of care
e) the restoration of the NHS as the preferred provider, only allowing new private providers where there is no risk of “cherry-picking” which would destabilise or undermine the existing NHS service relied upon for emergencies and complex cases, and where the needs of equity, research and training are met
f) NHS commissioning being retained as a entirely public function in full compliance with the Human Rights Act and Freedom of Information laws, using the skills and experience of existing NHS staff rather than the sub-contracting of commissioning to private companies
g) The continued separation of the commissioning and provision of services to prevent conflicts of interests
h) An NHS, responsive to patients needs, based on co-operation rather than competition, and which promotes quality and equity not the market
Sunday 9 50 – F 16 – Strategy, Positioning and Priorities
Insert after line 49:
1A Calls for the programme of the Coalition Government in the second half of the Parliament to include Liberal Democrat priorities drawn from our manifesto and policies, and for such a programme to be agreed by the democratic structures within the party and in line with the strategic approach set out in this motion.
1B Calls for there to be effective consultation with the party at large, through its democratic structures, when new Government policies are proposed, which are not included in the Coalition agreement, and which conflict with Lib Dem policy or principles
1C Calls on the Federal Executive and the Federal Policy Committee to
i) review, in consultation with the Parliamentary parties, the challenges of coalition which have an impact on the independence of the party, its policy position or its freedom of political movement
ii) report back on whether the existing constitutional provisions and other arrangements
are sufficiently democratic and
iii) propose recommendations, for any constitutional amendments or other protocols which may be needed, in time for debate in September 2011
