LAUSR

Social care in England has been hit hard by deliberate cuts in local authority funding imposed by the coalition government.1 Its funding is not ringfenced from funding for other local authority services, and, unlike NHS care, provision is based on means tested eligibility criteria and is now being severely rationed.2 Local authorities must also operate within their means and without the last minute bailouts available to NHS providers, further constrained by the political compromises and short term planning that inevitably arise from local electoral accountability. An estimated 400 000 fewer people now receive statutory support than in 2010.3 Most social care provision is commissioned from private providers, which have suffered from the impact of Brexit and the living wage on the labour market …