The state is should do more, but in order to do so taxes need to be raised accordingly. Too many paid for by government/Council resources have been cut often affecting the people who need them most.
It's simple. Raise taxes across the board and allocate the money according to the services in need. So in about 292 years once tory austerity has been repaired, provision can be made to expand and enhance services.
In all seriousness, a step towards enhancing state run services would be to ensure that staffing levels are increased and maintained, wages for public sector workers increased, and an incentive for joining these careers. Make being teachers, police officers, fire fighters, waste disposal technicians, nurses, doctors etc attractive professions to be apart of again.
This is partially why the tories are pushing more people back to work. They need money through taxation, and the more people who are working and working to earn just above the taxable amount will mean more money to prop up the system. Their approach is not nearly good enough and misguided in terms of their execution of this goal.
As a country we are broke ass poor. Britain has ranked 37th out of 39 European countries in regards to child poverty. This is unacceptable.
For those who are complaining and holding their hands out for more, put your money where your mouth is and pay taxes appropriately and proportionally. Either through funds or giving back in some form to the community in which you're taking resources out of it. I do appreciate and understand that some may be dealing with long term illness and disability, I am talking about those who refuse to vote, spoil votes, work just enough to avoid paying taxes, those who use tax loopholes to pay less tax, corporations etc.