Local Government Finance Settlement

David Nuttall Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I am afraid that I have to disagree with the hon. Gentleman. The better care fund goes a long way to plugging the gap. Let me remind him of the overall numbers: the spending review set out £3.5 billion of new spending by 2020, £2 billion of which would come from precepts, and £1.5 billion a year from the better care fund. It was designed precisely to plug the gap. I hope the hon. Gentleman recognises that, in today’s announcement, not all the money is through precepts. One of the reasons for the £240 million fund that is allocated on needs is to acknowledge that gap.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Despite council tax bills doubling under the last Labour Government, there was no long-term solution to the problem of funding adult social care. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, if we are ever to make real progress, we need a long-term solution based on the Conservative principle of self-reliance, and we need to encourage people, as far as possible, to provide for themselves?

[Sajid Javid]

I agree absolutely with my hon. Friend. He kindly reminded the House of Labour’s track record and of how taxes increased. He rightly said that council tax doubled in the 13 years of the last Labour Government. During those years, they had a manifesto commitment to deal with adult social care, a royal commission in 1999, two Green Papers in 2005 and 2009, a comprehensive spending review and the Wanless review. All that, they said, would solve the adult social care challenges, and all they did was make it much worse.