Editorial comment: Comprehensive spending review and the Treasury

The countdown to next July’s comprehensive spending review has begun and the next 11 months will see some frenetic activity in the attempt to influence Treasury plans that will shape services for years to come.

Community Care got in early with a call for more resources as part of our Stand Up for Social Care campaign. And the Local Government Association has made extra cash for older people’s services the centrepiece of its latest campaign. Meanwhile, the group set up by Liam Byrne in response to the Wanless report is behind the scenes trying to make the case for a fair share of the cake instead of the usual crumbs from the NHS table.

The Department of Health has said it wants to gather evidence for the spending review, although what more evidence does it need? Wanless surely says it all, while any number of reports from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and others have backed up the call for resources with hard facts.

The message for chancellor Gordon Brown is clear: unless he digs deep for some extra cash, he faces a ticking timebomb across adults’ services. And the time for defusing it is running out fast.

Additional reading
Treasury spending review unlikely to resolve social care funding woes