labourpress:

Teresa Pearce, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, commenting on Surrey County Council’s decision to hold a council tax referendum to fund adult social care, said:

“This Government’s continuing failure to address the crisis in social care funding has left councils up and down the country in a desperate situation.

“Despite repeated warnings from experts across the sector, the Government has yet again offered no fresh ideas and not a penny in extra funding to stem the crisis facing elderly, disabled and vulnerable people this winter.

“Forcing councils to rely on council tax income to fund statutory services, such as social care, is simply unsustainable and unrealistic. Council tax will not plug the growing funding gap in the long-term, and it will create a postcode lottery in services, leaving the poorest councils struggling to get by.

“The Government needs to come forward with urgent funding to address the immediate crisis as well as a sustainable and strategic vision for the future of social care. So far, they have done neither. It is elderly, disabled and sick people who are paying the price for their failure this winter.”