‘Carers are just abandoned’: Demand for council respite care soars as funding squeezed

Councils in England have been given an emergency £600 million by the Government to stave off financial crisis after Tory MPs threatened a rebellion over the prospect of steep spending cuts in an election year.

But critics say the new funds are nowhere near enough to meet the surging demand for services after more than a decade of budget cuts. Like respite care, where demand has soared but provision has almost halved.