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King's Fund response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee report on local government funding

Sally Warren, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund, commented on the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee report on local government finance

‘Years of cuts to local government funding are having a real impact on services that support the wellbeing of the whole community – like libraries, leisure centres and local parks – as well as for critical social care and public health services.

‘The new report from the HCLG Committee rightly focuses on the need to improve social care funding for local authorities in the short term. But the social care system is no longer fit for purpose, and long-term reform is needed to solve this issue for the future. I hope the Prime Minister will see good on his commitment to fix social care and give people the confidence that care will be available in the quantity and of the quality we would all want for ourselves and our families.

‘At the same time, cuts to the public health budget mean that local authorities are increasingly focusing on treatment at the expense of prevention services that could help people avoid health problems in the first place. Reductions in funding have coincided with rising incidence of some sexually transmitted infections, record numbers of drug deaths and a stall in life expectancy gains. A £1 billion funding boost is needed to restore services to the level they were at in 2015/16.’

Notes to editors

For further information, or to request an interview, please contact the Press and Public Affairs team on 020 7307 2585 (if calling out of hours, please ring 07584 146035).

The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. We help to shape policy and practice through research and analysis; develop individuals, teams and organisations; promote understanding of the health and social care system; and bring people together to learn, share knowledge and debate. Our vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.

Local services will continue to decline until Government tackles £5 billion funding gap

Original article link: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/press/press-releases/local-government-funding

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