Labour

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care, commenting on new delayed transfers of care figures due to social care, said

“It is deeply worrying that in July there was an 11 per cent increase in NHS bed days lost due to a lack of social care. Over the last five years, delayed days due to social care have increased by 113 per cent

“Delays caused by patients waiting for a care package at home have also increased, continuing an upward trend since February 2015, yet we see no action from Theresa May and Tory Ministers to fix this shortage of home care.

“Keeping older and vulnerable people in hospital when they are medically fit to leave poses a risk to their recovery and increases their likelihood of contracting hospital-acquired infections.

“A Labour Government would provide the urgent additional funding needed to end the crisis in social care.”

Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, responding to today’s NHS Combined Performance statistics, said:

“The Tories’ underfunding of the NHS has caused chaos for patients and even in the height of summer key targets are being missed and waiting list numbers are rising.

“There is a real danger to patients unless the Government takes urgent action to support the NHS through the extra winter pressures.

“Theresa May’s decision last year to refuse the necessary winter funding for the health service caused misery for patients right across the country – she needs to say what action she’s going to take so that patients and their families don’t suffer the same unacceptable waiting lists this winter.”

Tom Watson MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on Ofcom’s report into broadcasting diversity, said:

“Today’s report proves that British broadcasting has a diversity problem.

“Women and people from BAME backgrounds are underrepresented, particularly in senior roles, but the most shocking fact is that just 3 per cent of the broadcasting workforce has a disability, compared with 18 per cent of the population.

“Data can be an important driver of change, but that data needs to be comprehensive. The huge gaps in diversity data that Ofcom have found are unacceptable, but we also need to collect data that paints a broader picture, and that means collecting data on social class too.

“Our television represents who we are as a nation and those who work on and off screen should represent the whole country, not just part of it.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

·         Ofcom’s report out today can be found here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/diversity-uk-television-industry

·         Labour released its Acting Up report over the summer which looked at access and diversity in the performing arts. One of the key recommendations was an improvement in diversity data collection and monitoring. The full report and executive summary is available here: http://www.tom-watson.com/actingup

Debbie Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the Employment and Support Allowance Statistics, said:

“Nearly two thirds of Work Capability Assessments are still being overturned at appeal, demonstrating their total failure in adequately judging fitness for work for sick and disabled people.

“This not only causes unnecessary stress and anxiety for the thousands who have been denied support unfairly, it also wastes public money by sending so many decisions back to the courts.

“Labour will scrap these punitive assessments and replace them with a holistic, person-centred approach.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• The full release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-september-2017

Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Devolution and Finance, responding to findings by the IFS that councils are concerned about impact of cuts, said:

 “The IFS’s shock findings that five out of six councils are not confident they can avoid significant reductions in service quality over the next five years is yet more evidence of the damage that government cuts to local government funding is having. The lack of certainty over future funding is undermining local councils’ ability to respond to growing need in their area.

“Earlier this year we pushed the Government to deliver a properly thought out solution to local government funding, only for the process to be shelved because of the snap general election that they called.

“We’re not simply scare mongering when we say that councils face a very real risk of collapsing under the combination of growing need – especially for social care – government cuts to core funding, and the sheer lack of clarity on what a funding formula will look like in the future. And let’s be clear, it’s local residents who will ultimately pay the price of unfunded and overstretched services.”

Ends

Notes to editors

The report ‘The local vantage: how views on local government finance vary across councils’ will be available on the IFS website from 00.01 Thursday 14^th September 2017.