Barbara Keeley, Shadow Minister for Social Care and Mental Health commenting on the IFS analysis, said:

“The IFS lays bare the Tories’ chronic underfunding of local government and its effects on social care.

“The Conservatives have cut 60p out of every £1 that the last Labour government invested in our councils, causing massive damage to communities across the country.

“It’s time for real change. It’s time for a Labour Government that will build a National Care Service with free personal care for older people at its heart and provide local councils with the funding they need.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

• Labour’s policy document laying out the first steps towards our National Care Service is at labour.org.uk/nationalcareservice
• According to the IFS press release
  “’The outlook for councils’ funding: is austerity over?’ will be available at 00:01 on the IFS website: https://www.ifs.org.uk/. Please email [email protected] for embargoed copies of this chapter or call 07730 667 013.”