Tiverton MP miffed over 'nothing for Devon' spending review

Rachel Gilmour says government fails the county

A Devon MP has criticised the government’s spending review for giving “nothing” to Devon.

Liberal Democrat Rachel Gilmour, who represents Tiverton and Minehead, said the announcement failed to support the county or Somerset.

“Nothing for Devon, nothing for Somerset,” she said.

“The spending review feels like a missed opportunity to draw a line under years of Conservative mismanagement, which damaged our public services, left our NHS on its knees, social care and Send teetering on the edge, and school and hospital buildings crumbling – and begin to deliver the change people were promised.

“The government must understand that we can’t fix the NHS if don’t fix social care.”

Ms Gilmour said that while her party welcomed the investment of £29 billion a year into day-to-day NHS spending, she is shocked at the “deafening silence on the social care crisis in the chancellor’s speech”.

“That spoke volumes,” she said.

“NHS investment will be wasted if hospitals can’t discharge patients who don’t need to be there – and if local authorities don’t have the resources to care for people in their homes, preventing them going to hospital in the first place.

“The government must stop dragging its feet and conclude their social care review by Christmas.”

Farmers also seemed to be hit as a result of the spending review, Ms Gilmour claimed.

“Following the budget, this spending review provided the perfect opportunity to change course and back our farmers and rural communities, yet our farmers are still being left to carry the burden of budget cuts,” she said.

“This is unacceptable, and shows that the government have, once again, not considered UK food security.”

Labour claims its funding settlement shows its “steadfast commitment to farming, food security, and nature’s recovery”.

Spending review documents said: “The government will invest more than £2.7 billion per year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026-27 until 2028-29.

“Farmers will benefit from an average of £2.3 billion through the Farming and Countryside Programme and up to £400 million from additional nature schemes.”

On NHS funding, the spending review stated the £29 billion additional annual cash through to 2028/29 would take spending to £226 billion by that year, equivalent to a three per cent annual boost.

“This investment will support the NHS to deliver the government’s Plan for Change commitment, meaning that by the end of the parliament, 92 per cent of patients will start consultant-led treatment for non-urgent conditions within 18 weeks of referral,” the spending review document said.