Sunday 8 January 2017

Theresa May wants "fairness". She should reverse austerity cuts.

The BBC Wales  website covers a report thatThe rising cost of social care could force some councils to merge, according to the chief executive of the Welsh Local Government Association.
Steve Thomas said social care costs were expected to double over the next 15 years.
But he said overall council budgets would continue to decline.
Which asks the question just how will Prime Minister Theresa May balance this with her  promise to introduce wide-ranging social reforms to correct what she calls the "burning injustices" in modern society?
In the Sunday Times  Mrs May writes that a "shared society" means "a society that doesn't just value our individual rights but focuses rather more on the responsibilities we have to one another... with a commitment to fairness at its heart".
"It goes to the heart of my belief that there is more to life than individualism and self-interest," she said.
"The social and cultural unions represented by families, communities, towns, cities, counties and nations are the things that define us and make us strong.
"And it is the job of government to encourage and nurture these relationships and institutions where it can, and to correct the injustice and unfairness that divides us wherever it is found...
"From tackling the increasing lack of affordability in housing, fixing broken markets to help with the cost of living, and building a great meritocracy where every child has the opportunity of a good school place, we will act across every layer of society to restore the fairness that is the bedrock of the social solidarity that makes our nation strong."
But  the reality is  earthlier this week the Welsh Government announced an extra £10m a year of new funding to help ensure the social care sector is sustainable.
Much of that money will help meet the extra costs associated with the introduction of the National Living Wage.
The Welsh Government, before the last assembly election, had wanted to merge councils, reducing the number from 22 to eight or nine.
I suspect Mrs May Words are just that Words . If she really wants to change things then she will have to end Austerity  and provide financial help to local authorities who are faced with yearly cuts in their  expenditure.
I am not arguing that the simple solution to the rising cost of Social Care is to throw more money at it . but clearly it has been cut to the bone,.
Will mergers help? It will be initially costly and maybe  years before we know whether it has worked.
But in the meantime  Mrs May talks about restoring  "the fairness that is the bedrock of the social solidarity that makes our nation strong." without acknowledging  that it is her Tories . with  the help of the Liberal Democrats and a useless opposition in the guise of the Labour Party that has destroyed it..

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Glyn - a good post but I'm afraid I must take exception with something in your last paragraph where you say 'and a useless opposition in the guise of the Labour Party'.

They may officially be recognised as such by virtue of their MP numbers but they certainly haven't behaved like an opposition party in challenging the Tories. That honour falls squarely on the shoulders of the SNP MP's at Westminster.

I would suggest it should have read ' and a useless Labour Party in the guise of an opposition'.