What does the money raised in the budget mean to health and how will the tax rises affect those working in health and social care?
From next April, employers will have to pay NI at 15% on salaries above £5,000, instead of 13.8% on salaries above £9,100 currently.
The NHS and rest of the public sector are due to be shielded from a hike in National Insurance (NI) contributions from April next year. What about those who provide public sector work from the private sector or are run as a small business? GPs are an example of a small business, and GPs are warning that tax rises, such as the increased Employers National Insurance Contributions will have a financial impact adversely affecting patients’ services.
The government has suggested that the extra cost of higher national insurance contributions paid by GP practices will be taken into consideration when GP contracts are renegotiated later this year.
Social care services with private providers are concerned about the National Insurance increase as well as minimum wage increases.
The Institute of General Practice Management, which represents GP practice managers, has estimated that the rise will put up the tax bill of the average surgery by around £20,000 a year.
NHS hospitals will be protected from the rise through scheduled back-payments from the Treasury. GP surgeries, which operate as business partnerships and deliver NHS care under government contracts, are not in the same position.
Social care is largely delivered through a patchwork of private companies, with local authorities subsidising the care of people with high needs and low assets. The independent care sector employs collectively 1.7 million people. Some publicly funded healthcare is delivered by charities, while pharmacy businesses deliver services for the NHS under contract.
More than £22bn of extra funding was announced for the NHS in this week’s budget. It is not clear how much of that will go towards compensating for higher national insurance contributions.
Of the £40bn in tax rises in the Budget, £25bn will come from the National Insurance increase.
What about education, we know that good education leads to better overall health. However, only £1bn for special educational needs and disabilities. This comes out of the £2.3bn overall increase in core spending on schools, as well as £6.7bn allocated for maintenance, replacing buildings and creating new places in primary schools.
What about housing and universities, no clear funding for them in the budget. How can people go to school and learn or go to work, if they do not have somewhere safe to live? There is a freeze on local housing allowance. There was no mention of child poverty. Without extra funding for universities, there will be further restrictions or cuts to their education opportunities.
A far more wide-spread and comprehensive approach to where public funds are raised and spent is required to improve the overall health