Local Government and Social Care Funding Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Lyn Brown
Main Page: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)Department Debates - View all Lyn Brown's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
(5 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Andrew Gwynne
I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) and then I need to make progress.
Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)
I am grateful that my hon. Friend has mentioned children’s services. Clearly, the overspend on children’s services has hit a new high of £800 million—and of £12 million in Newham alone last year—and it is calculated that this funding gap will get to £2 billion by 2020. Is it not a complete and utter nonsense, and unsustainable for councils, to be told that they should be using what little reserves they still have to keep safe our very vulnerable children?