It was a pleasure to welcome Sir Chris Whitty to Devon. He sprang to prominence during Covid with his daily press briefings to the country. We met with many of the health and care practitioners in Devon. Sir Chris was here to listen and then report back to government on how best to deliver health services in a rural area.

The advice was rural Britain needs to speak with one voice. We share many of the issues around isolation and pockets of hidden deprivation with colleagues across the country. If we are to achieve meaningful policies from government and indeed service delivery models from the NHS, then we need to co-ordinate our responses. This very much chimes with our ambition for Devon to be the voice of rural England if not Britain. With the promise of mayors and devolution now off the agenda, we must find other ways of making our voices heard.

A number of participants raised the issue of the use of average indices. How the problems of some communities are masked by more affluent neighbours. Sir Chris was quite clear we should push for more granular data. Use more detailed information for smaller communities to highlight where help and support is needed. We already do this where money is devolved to a district level like the Household Support Fund now replaced by the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Local councils know their communities best and where to direct these resources. The problem we have is many grants including the financial settlement from government, are based on large populations and averages which allows the most vulnerable to slip though.

It’s another example of the failings of a system of governance that is too centralised. If only government would allow local authorities to have more discretion on how we can target welfare support. Not only would it be more equitable and efficient, but it would also be better placed to combat fraud. It could have been part of the devolution agenda but instead we are being corralled in to yet more centralisation and less democratic accountability.

A good diet is closely corelated to good health. We discussed how our schools could make better use of our local produce. We grow some of the finest food in the country and Devon supplies almost a third of all dairy. There must be a way for us take advantage of this situation. As a county we also have a farms estate. We will be looking at how we can try and utilise these assets and resources for the benefit of our schools and children.

It was refreshing to speak and discuss issues with a real expert in their field. Sir Chris was incredibly generous, sharing his experience and advice while listening to the concerns of people delivering health and care services in a large rural area. I have become cynical of government webinars chaired by politicians bogged down in political dogma and supported by civil servants who look like their barely out of school. Or patronised by over paid consultants who know less about our business or how it works. No wonder government struggles when it will not listen to those with the experience and expertise. Sir Chris was none of these. I look forward to his report and hopefully welcome him back to Devon.