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The new health bill has no dedicated plan to end the postcode lottery because there’s no political capital in doing so
Gunboats to Jersey on election day? Nothing better illuminates the Gilbert and Sullivan-esque style of our prime minister. But, despite stunts, these were local elections in England, where most services are – or aren’t – delivered.
From bins to parks, potholes to police, for safe or squalid surroundings, most quality-of-life services are controlled locally, not at Westminster – and by far the biggest is social care, eating up more than half of councils’ budgets. Yet care is invisible to most voters. When families do suddenly encounter it – frantic parents of a child with special needs, or a family needing care for a parent with dementia – they are shocked to find a threadbare postcode lottery of erratic services. Many voters who cast ballots on Thursday know virtually nothing about social care, blindly assuming it’s like the NHS, until they need it – and most won’t. Continue reading...