The leaders of all four political groups at the Local Government Association (LGA) have called on the Government to take urgent action on social care.
In a letter to the Observer newspaper, the leaders of the groups said the calls for action from local government, NHS and the third sector were ‘deafening’.
The letter was signed by the leader of the LGA’s Conservative group, Cllr David Hodge, Labour leader, Cllr Nick Forbes, Lib Dem leader, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, and the deputy leader of the independent group, Cllr Peter Reeve.
The letter said: ‘The social care crisis is real and it is happening right now.
‘The Government cannot ignore it any longer if we are to truly have a society that works for everyone.’
Last week, council and health bosses slammed the Government after chancellor Philip Hammond failed to give any additional cash for social care in his first Autumn Statement.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday, the chairman of the NHS Confederation, Stephen Dorrell, said Mr Hammond had made a ‘mistake’ by not increasing social care funding.
‘It’s no good going into this winter saying it’s going to be all right when you already have lengthening queues in accident and emergency departments and hospitals unable to discharge people,’ said Mr Dorrell.
