Labour have always been on the side of essential public services, because we recognise the importance of the security and dignity they provide for all of us who may need them at any time.

We believe that access to quality healthcare for all is a fundamental right. The NHS is our proudest achievement as a Party, and right now social care faces a crisis that demands action.

Thanks to our creation of St Helens Cares in partnership with the CCG we are in a very fortunate position in St Helens: https://www.sthelenslabour.org/latest-news/2020/11/18/st-helens-cares-shortlisted-for-prestigious-national-award/

But we recognise that the whole social care funding system needs urgent reform.

Councillor Marlene Quinn has raised this issue constantly. She has highlighted the crisis facing council and social care budgets across the country. This cannot and should not be allowed to continue, yet it goes on from one year to the next due to government delay and dithering.

And in the summer let’s not forget that Boris Johnson tried to blame care homes for the spread of the virus. Locally we stood up for carers and care homes in the face of this baseless and unfair attack: https://www.sthelenslabour.org/latest-news/2020/07/07/our-care-homes-deserve-thanks-and-respect-not-blame/

The funding crisis will continue to escalate unless and until the government produce a fair and sustainable plan. Encouraging councils to raise extra money for social care through council tax is fundamentally unfair – it punishes residents, and it punishes boroughs with smaller council tax bases than others, entrenching inequality and unfairness in the system.

The time to act decisively is now.