Mr Clive Betts

I do not know whether my hon. Friend is as surprised as I am that the official Opposition could not even bear to mention the word “austerity” when they responded. Before we move on, there was a case of amnesia from the Lib Dems, who forget their role, under the coalition Government, in some of the worse cuts of all that local government experienced. I therefore welcome the Minister’s comments about deprivation. The poorest councils got hit hardest during austerity by the Conservatives. I thank her for putting tackling deprivation at the heart of this settlement. I have two challenges. The Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), reiterated what we said in the Select Committee in the last Parliament: council tax is regressive and has to be reformed. The Minister mentioned the need for long-term changes to the whole way in which social care is funded. Would she at least begin a conversation across parties to try to get long-term agreement about how this should be done? It has failed over and over again through parties squabbling over the details. We need a long-term settlement. Can we at least start those conversations now?