Austerity was sold to the British public as the only way to shore up our feeble national finances. Cutting public spending, voters were told, might make the UK a bit meaner. Now council leaders are warning that children’s services face a tipping point, with 90 children entering care every day but repeated appeals for additional funding from the Treasury rejected. But mostly the political calculation appears to have been that people will not notice as spending on jails, support services for vulnerable families and legal aid is whittled away. Some ameliorative measures have already been taken, for example in adjustments to the legal aid rules.

Source: The Guardian September 06, 2018 17:48 UTC