Review:- "Stewart Francis in Liverpool"
Review by Jo Forrest.

THE Canadian comedian, actor and writer, Stewart Francis is currently on tour, in the UK, with his new show 'Pun Gent.' On 11 November 2015, Stewart played at the Liverpool Philharmonic to a packed audience. He is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer. He has been a frequent guest on shows like Mock the Week and 8 out of 10 cats and is best known for his dead pan one liners.

His hilarious new show proved that nothing was out of bounds and for 60 packed minutes he delivered some of the best puns I have ever heard. Quite a feat if honest as it can't be easy. Most comedians spend their time building a story and creating the scene before delivering the punchlines.

The set was really simple with just a small screen on stage, however this displayed several cartoons all created and written by Stewart Francis, sadly I was not able to see them from where I was sat, but if the show was anything to go by then these would have been equally as funny.

The show opened with the brilliantly funny and fellow Canadian, Allyson June Smith. Her spot lasted for 30 minutes and had the audience in stitches. She talks about how she has gone from a teacher to comedienne, did some brilliant impressions of Britney Spears and Shakira and went on to talk about how she took her mum out to see an erotic male dancer for her birthday.

This is a show that is well worth seeing, both comedians delivering a total of 90 minutes of non stop laughter.

Care Chief warns Merseyside MPs of looming care crisis

PROFESSOR Martin Green OBE, the Chief Executive of Care England has written to MPs in Merseyside to warn that within 5 years, nearly 33% of elderly people in Merseyside could struggle to find a residential care home bed, as care homes are forced to close their doors. The warning comes after the sector has struggled with chronic public sector underfunding over the last 5 years and is now facing huge additional costs with the introduction of the National Living Wage.

In light of deeply worrying findings in a report published by independent think tank ResPublica released on 11 November 2015, Professor Green wrote to Merseyside MPs urging them to contact the Chancellor ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review on 25 November 2015, and impress on him the seriousness of the crisis facing the care sector unless urgent extra sufficient government funding was provided.

ResPublica's report, entitled:- 'The Care Collapse - The Imminent Crisis' in Residential Care and its Impact on the NHS, evidenced that, following the introduction of the National Living Wage, in April 2016, 37,000 local authority funded care home beds will be lost in England as care homes are forced to close their doors. This equates to a 28% shortfall in the number of care home beds needed to meet demand by 2020. ResPublica also predicts a £1.1bn funding gap, a third of which will be due to the increased cost of paying staff the National Living Wage.

Professor Green's letter emphasised that the care sector welcomed the implementation of the National Living Wage for carers in recognition of their very difficult and demanding role. However, the industry leader warned of the effect of this on care home finances and the sustainability of the care sector. Unlike many businesses, staff wages account for 70% of care homes' costs, and 55% of all people in residential care are state funded by local authorities or Clinical Commissioning Groups who must be able to meet the increase in costs caused by the National Living Wage.

The problem does not stop there. It will fall to the NHS to care for those older people who cannot be placed in care homes, and this is set to cost the NHS £3 billion.  Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England, said:- "It is no exaggeration to say the care sector is on the brink of a catastrophic collapse, and in desperation we are turning to MPs in Merseyside for support.  We urge them to write to the Chancellor and impress on him the seriousness of the situation which will have a significant impact on thousands of elderly vulnerable people in Merseyside. MPs and the government must act swiftly or be faced with a care sector crisis bigger than the collapse of Southern Cross, and more severe than that facing the steel industry. As ResPublica reported, some 37,000 residents may be made homeless if the sector collapses; these are real, vulnerable elderly people and their families who will be affected, with the government facing a human tragedy of its own making. It must act urgently and effectively to save the care sector."

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