Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has raised concerns around the proposed funding for state-funded services under the next government, whichever party should win the election.

The UK is set to hold its General Election on 4 July, with almost all polls forecasting a Labour Party whitewash of the Tories, with some growth in support for other parties like Reform and the Green Party.

With all parties now having released their manifestos, the IFS has raised concerns that, despite some promising pledges around areas like social care, the plans for the funding of social services and other publicly funded services have not been thought through sufficiently.

The organisation also said that between the Labour and Conservative parties there is a “conspiracy of silence” around “public service spending plans”.

The full breakdown of the parties’ funding plans can be found here, including a live stream of the research presentation by IFS researchers.

Bee Boileau, research economist at IFS and co-author of the report, said: “Both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party have made a lot of their ‘fully funded’ pledges in the manifestos this election campaign. But, in practice, these pledges mean almost nothing for the funding that individual public services might expect in the next parliament.

“We do not know how total spending will be allocated between public services after next March, and, with a few exceptions, neither manifesto offered much light.

“The manifestos did tell us that neither party is planning to top up total public service spending by enough to avoid very difficult choices for many public services in the next parliament.

“But the manifestos provided no information on which areas would actually bear the brunt of these choices, continuing the main parties’ conspiracy of silence when it comes to public service spending plans.”

Mark Franks, director of welfare at the Nuffield Foundation, said: “The public should be informed about whether the parties aiming to form the next government have credible plans for funding the essential public services that people rely on.

“In this election, voters are being asked to make their decision without adequate and clear information on this critical issue. This lack of clarity should be addressed, both in the remaining two weeks before the election and in future electoral processes.”