Oxfordshire’s five Liberal Democrat MPs have criticised Rachel Reeves’ Budget for not doing enough to address funding gaps in local government and social care. 

The UK’s first female Chancellor unveiled the new government’s Budget yesterday, (Wednesday, October 30) which included a £40 billion tax rise to help fund increased investment in public services.

In her speech given to the House of Commons, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced local governments would be provided with an additional £1.3 billion in grant funding, with at least 600 million being dedicated to social care.

The government will also inject £1 billion into SEND provision.

READ MORE: Contentious new children's home permitted for Oxford

After the Budget, Oxfordshire’s Lib Dem MPs Olly Glover, Charlie Maynard, Calum Miller, Layla Moran and Freddie van Mierlo released a joint statement.

They said: “Every week we hear from local people struggling with the cost of their utility bills, worrying about the price of food, and deeply concerned about the state of public services.

“But instead of raising the money we need by reversing tax cuts for the big banks, or asking the social media and tech giants to pay a bit more, the Chancellor has chosen unfair tax hikes that will hurt the hard-working families, small businesses and family farms that are the engines of our economy.

“While we’re pleased the government has listened to the Lib Dems’ calls for more investment in the NHS, we remain deeply concerned they are still ignoring the elephant in the waiting room the crisis in social care. 

“We urge the Government to end the dither and delay and begin cross-party talks on social care now.

(Image: Contributed)

“Local councils are already struggling to fund key services like SEND, Adult Social Care, and highways maintenance, and this budget simply didn’t do enough to fill the vast funding gap, particularly in adult social care.

“Any and all investment is welcome, but we need to ensure it is enough to meet need.

“We will now hold the new government to account on delivering their promises, to fix public services and heal the economy.

“Anything else would be letting down so many who’ve already suffered so much.”

In a series of posts to X (formerly known as Twitter), Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said she was pleased to see the government put more funding into SEND provision.

However, she added the funding for local government “just doesn’t go far enough”, given the £54 billion funding gap for local councils.  

Before the Budget was announced, all five of Oxfordshire’s Liberal Democrat MPs sent a letter urging the Chancellor to prioritise local government funding.

In a statement, Oxfordshire County Council said they were still awaiting news on how local government grant funding would affect their services, and that they would factor this into the council Budget.

A council spokesman said: “Along with colleagues across local government, Oxfordshire County Council will study the detail of today’s statement by the chancellor and factor it into its forthcoming budget setting process.

“The council does not set a budget until February. As such no decisions will be made immediately as a result of what the Chancellor said.

“The council will publish a first draft of budget proposals towards the end of November and this will evolve throughout the winter as further information becomes available.

“We await news on how the increases in local government grant funding described by the Chancellor – including, SEND, roads maintenance and social care - will specifically affect the county council.

“We will not receive that level of detail until December. We note that there was no mention as to how accumulated SEND deficits at all councils in the country will be tackled.

 “At this stage the council has noted that the Budget has added to the pressures faced by all local authorities, including Oxfordshire County Council. 

“Increases to employer National Insurance and to the National Living Wage have been observed and we wait to see if these extra pressures are included in new funding announced.

“We also wait to see how increased funding for the NHS will affect social care.”