The PM, Theresa May, came under some harsh questioning by Jeremy Corbyn about the lack of funding for social care in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.
Now new statistics have revealed a postcode lottery on a decent standard of social care provision. Many Labour MPs are campaigning for the Tories to ensure that elderly people are given the dignity they deserve, in their final years, through increased funding.
The Government is now allowing local authorities to increase council tax fees to be used to invest in care of the elderly.
These tax hikes are necessary to plug a funding gap that is growing as the UK population ages. It is thought that there is a £1.3bn black hole in the system, reports the Guardian.
The information was gathered from 90 councils across the nation and indicate that most of them fall below a minimum amount of spend, £554 per week, which has been calculated by the LGA (Local Government Association).
A number of councils, including Dartford, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Liverpool, Lancashire, Hampshire and North Lincolnshire, pay providers a local weekly rate well below £400.
The figures were supplied Via a FOI request from Labour MP Jess Phillips, who told parliament that Buckinghamshire paid £615 a week, while her local council in Birmingham had a rate of £436
Phillips asked the House: “Are nans and grandads in Buckinghamshire worth more than they are in Yardley?
“Labour has called for this vital service to be properly funded; the Tories should heed those calls but they’ve offered nothing, instead blaming everyone from councils to professionals for the mess of their own making. It will fall to a Labour government to rescue social care.”
The Chancellor, Mr Hammond said: “Local authorities will have to look at how they manage the situation to get from here to the very substantial increase in funding that will be available to them later in the parliament.
“Money alone is not the issue. It is about effective cooperation and collaboration between the NHS and social services.”