The Green Party has said Labour’s inadequate funding of SEND and dither over tackling a social care crisis is what is leading so many councils to bankruptcy [1].
The Party’s co-leader, Adrian Ramsay MP, said:
“We need the government to act urgently on the social care crisis. Instead, Labour has kicked the problem into the long grass, again. The Royal Commission on social care, ordered by the government some months ago, is not due to report until 2028.
“There have been around 25 social care commissions, select committee inquiries and white papers since 1997 [2]. We don’t need more dither; we need action. Instead of another Commission, Labour needs to get on with the proposal for cross-party talks on how best to fund social care, but they keep postponing. Meanwhile, people across Britain continue to suffer and local councils are left to pick up the bill for the care sector’s funding crisis.
“As for SEND, the Spending Review has failed to address deficits racked up by councils or the fact that many children are not getting the access to special educational needs support they need. The IFS says that any extra money pledged for schools will almost entirely be wiped out tackling the growing demand for special educational needs [3].”
“Even with five percent increases to Council tax, many Councils are still effectively looking at bankruptcy [4]. Until the government gets a grip on social care and SEND – the main reasons why councils are going bust – we won’t see any improvement in this desperate situation.”
Notes