Summer’s here – a chance for me to take my foot off the pedal and spend time with family and friends. I appreciate that for many in a tourism hotspot, the opposite is true. I’m also acutely aware that for our officers working with safeguarding and vulnerable children, this can be the busiest and most stressful time of year. With the structure of the school timetable in abeyance, many of our children need more support than ever. I know how lucky I am to be able to spend precious time with my grandchildren.

Following on from the letter, I met with the Minister the other week. Good to talk face to face. Discussions centred on Local Government Reform and Devolution, but it also gave me the opportunity to talk about funding; or the lack of it I should say. We may live in a beautiful area, but there are pockets of rural deprivation. Too often they are out of sight and out of mind. Isolation means reaching out to these communities is often harder and more expensive. To be fair, the minister seemed receptive to these arguments.

It also brought home to me how focussed this government is on economic growth, almost to the exclusion of anything else. We talked about delivering local services and the role a strategic authority and elected mayor would play. It was made quite clear to me that both would be focused purely on growth. No opportunity for the new authority to take a strategic view on many of the big ticket items around adult social care or children’s services. It’s the wrong approach in my view.

There’s nothing wrong with pursuing growth, we all accept that taxes from it pay for public services. The issue is how we achieve and measure it. Too often, environmental damage and resource consumption are counted as positives. We also chase growth in a narrow, blinkered way. Instead of believing growth will solve our ills, we should solve our ills to create growth.

This government’s growth agenda reminds me of the discredited ‘trickle down’ theory. If wealthier people become wealthier, then more money will trickle down to those who need it most. It’s a ridiculous theory propagated by wealthy people. The growing divide between the rich and poor, the haves and the have nots, is one of the ills as a society we need to cure. You don’t do that by making rich people richer. Government needs to refocus its efforts on making us a healthy nation. Not just in terms of the NHS but reaffirming our values. Fairness, equity and tolerance to name a few.

Which brings me back to my plea to government for proper funding for our crucial services. I appreciate that just more money isn’t the answer. We’ve got to play our part too. We need to be more strategic; developing ideas that will make services financially sustainable in the medium and long term. We’re drawing up plans that will do just that. Giving our children the best possible start; supporting our most vulnerable young people; treating our old people with dignity. I’m optimistic we can work with government. A healthy Devon will deliver the growth they seek.