Getting social care is "like being in a shop with no prices", according to the author of a major review of social care which concluded costs should be capped. Sir Andrew Dilnot said that although people know how much they will pay each week or month, they have no idea…

Theresa May faces calls from almost 100 MPs to establish a cross-party commission to address the crisis in NHS and social care. The move is an attempt to break the "political deadlock" that has blocked repeated attempts to decide how to organise and fund services to cope with Britain's ageing…

Adult social care costs could account for half of the local taxes raised by councils unless ministers rethink their local government funding reforms, a leading economic think tank has warned. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said there was the risk of a growing "funding gap" for adult social care…

A cap on the "punitive" costs faced by people requiring care is set to be included in the latest Government plan for reform of the system in England, Jeremy Hunt indicated. The Health and Social Care Secretary acknowledged there was an "illness lottery" which left people suffering from conditions such…

Student nurses at nine universities have had their loans and grants cut off or reduced after administrative errors meant they were previously paid too much, according to nursing leaders. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it has written to the Student Loans Company (SLC) urging it to write off…

A troubled Tory-run council "failed to comply with its duty" to deliver services and should be scrapped, independent inspectors have concluded. A Government report has recommended Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) be partitioned into two new unitary councils after the local authority revealed it was close to effective bankruptcy and was…

John McDonnell has accused Philip Hammond of being "cut off from the real world" as he warned public sector workers have been "ignored again" by the Government. The shadow chancellor labelled Mr Hammond's "complacency" as "astounding" during the Spring Statement, before sounding warnings over the state of the UK economy.…

Chancellor Philip Hammond has hinted he will turn on the spending tap in this autumn's Budget after positive public finance figures pointed to "light at the end of the tunnel" following years of austerity. In a low-key spring statement, Mr Hammond resisted pressure for an immediate boost to public service…

The UK Government has tabled a budget for Northern Ireland in the ongoing absence of devolved ministers due to the powersharing crisis. Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley unveiled the £12 billion Westminster spending plan for the region in a written statement to Parliament. The budget includes £410 million of the…

Cash-strapped councils are "raiding their rainy day funds" to cope with growing demand on social services, the public spending watchdog has said. Government funding for local authorities has fallen by an estimated 50% since April 2011, heaping added pressure on strained finances and forcing councils in England to cut back…

Chancellor Philip Hammond must use his Spring Statement to help struggling councils which are acting as "human shields" for the Government's "failed economic policy of austerity", John McDonnell will say. The shadow chancellor will warn that local authorities across England are facing bankruptcy as a result of spending cuts since…

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has appealed to Philip Hammond to address the "£2 billion funding gap" in children's services to "protect our children". Mr McDonnell said the "most vulnerable" were suffering because of local council funding gaps, and said the number of children taken into care is at its "highest…