LGiU response to the Chancellor’s Budget
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive of LGiU, said:
“This budget was dominated by the Government’s response to coronavirus. No one could argue with that, but for local government it provides more questions than answers.
Social care has been all but absent in the response to Covid-19. Hospitals will not be able to cope if large numbers of older sufferers cannot be discharged because of a lack of social care provision and social care providers will not be able to cope if a fifth of their already stretched workforce is off sick. This could create a dangerous and vicious circle.
The £500 million hardship fund the Chancellor announced for local government will help with this, but will it be enough? Mr Sunak promised “whatever it takes” for the NHS, but once again, we risk forgetting the symbiotic relationship between health and social care.
Councils will be at the front line of our response to coronavirus and will be a crucial player in long term economic transformation. However, local government may feel that it has dropped through the middle somewhat as the Government attempts to get so many other things done.”
