Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Health and Care Staffing Costs: Employer NI Contributions

Tuesday 19 November 2024 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Chancellor's Budget decisions have provided the Department with an extra 26 billion for health and social care reform.
  • The Secretary of State visited Saint Francis hospice to assess the pressures it faces and the quality of care it provides.
  • The Secretary of State emphasized the investment of 26 billion in health and social care due to the Chancellor's decisions.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem North East Fife
NHS Social Care Taxation
Context

Chamberlain asked about the potential effects of proposed employer NI contribution changes on staffing costs for health and care providers.

Question

What recent assessment has been made of the potential impact of proposed changes to employer national insurance contributions on staffing costs for health and care providers?

Answer from Wes Streeting

The leadership shown by the Chancellor has enabled her and the Government to fix the foundations of the public finances and fill the £22 billion black hole left by the previous Government. The decisions that she took meant that she was able to provide this Department with an extra £26 billion and a real-terms increase in core local government spending power by about 3.2%. That was the right decision for the right reasons in the national interest, and I am taking into consideration pressures on all parts of health and social care before making final allocations for the year ahead.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The impact of employer NI changes on staffing costs for health and care providers was not directly addressed. Instead, the answer focused on general funding increases.

How: Under Consideration, National Interest

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Q2 Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem North East Fife
NHS
Context

Chamberlain highlighted the closure of a dental surgery in Leven due to recruitment issues and increased national insurance contributions.

Question

In North East Fife, we have a particular issue with access to dental surgeries, especially with the recent closure of a surgery in Leven. Difficulties stem from recruitment from abroad as a result of visa changes and also simply from practices going private and coming out of the system. Does the Secretary of State agree that putting staffing under further strain from increasing national insurance contributions will only make things worse for dentists?

Answer from Wes Streeting

It is because the Chancellor took the decisions that she did in the Budget that my Department has received £26 billion to reform and improve health and social care. As I said before the general election, all parts of the United Kingdom suffered under the previous Conservative Government, which is why I am sure that Members from across Scotland will welcome the extra £1.5 billion this year and £3.4 billion next year—the biggest funding increase since devolution.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific impact on dental practices was not addressed directly.

How: Extra Funding, Previous Government

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Q3 Rachael Maskell Labour (Co-op) York Central
NHS
Context

Maskell noted the pressures on hospices from national insurance contributions and other cost factors.

Question

Fourteen years of neglect have left hospices in a perilous condition. They are dealing with the rise in national insurance contributions, pay and other cost pressures, so I welcome the fact that the Secretary of State is putting in place measures to ensure that the funding recovers. Will he assure me that integrated care boards not only will pass on that recovery from the increased costs to hospices, but will help them catch up from the Tory years of neglect of the whole sector?

Answer from Wes Streeting

I am looking carefully at the pressures on hospices. In fact, only last Friday I visited Saint Francis hospice, which serves my constituents and people right across east London and west and south Essex. I saw at first hand the brilliant work it is doing on end of life care, but also the pressures it is under, and I am taking those pressures into account before deciding allocations for the year ahead.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific measures to support hospices were not outlined directly.

How: Pressures Considered, Care Boards

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Q4 Caroline Johnson Con Sleaford and North Hykeham
NHS Taxation
Context

Johnson asked about the cost to the NHS from the Chancellor's national insurance contribution changes.

Question

I have tried repeatedly through written parliamentary questions to get an answer to this without success, so I will try asking it face to face: will the Secretary of State tell the House how much his Chancellor's changes to national insurance contributions will cost the NHS?

Answer from Wes Streeting

The hon. Member talks about the employer national insurance contributions as if they were a burden on the NHS. It is thanks to the decisions taken by the Chancellor that we can invest £26 billion in health and social care. The Conservatives welcome the investment but oppose the means of raising it. Do they support the investment or not? They cannot duck the question; they have to answer.

Not addressed: The specific cost to the NHS was not provided.

How: Investment

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Q5 Caroline Johnson Con Sleaford and North Hykeham
NHS Taxation
Context

Johnson highlighted the impact of NI changes on charities and other healthcare providers.

Question

Of course, changes to national insurance contributions affect not just the NHS directly, but suppliers, contractors, charities and other NHS care providers. I know you are a great supporter of your local air ambulance service, Mr Speaker, as I am of the Lincs & Notts air ambulance, which now needs to raise £70,000 extra just to fund this Government's ill-advised changes to NICs. That £70,000 is a lot of cakes to sell, cars to wash and fun runs to complete, and that is just one example of pressures placed on lifesaving services right across the country.

Answer from Wes Streeting

Again, we have not yet announced how we are allocating the budget for the year ahead, but I remind the Conservatives that it is thanks to the choices the Chancellor made in her Budget that she is able to invest £26 billion in health and social care. Would they cut the £26 billion this Labour Government are investing in the NHS? If not, how would they pay for it?

Not addressed: The specific confirmation was not given.

How: Budget Allocation, Investment

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Q6 Helen Morgan Lib Dem North Shropshire
NHS
Context

Morgan pointed out the impact of national insurance contributions on hospice funding.

Question

Will the Secretary of State commit to either exempting hospices from the NICs increase or ensure that they are funded to cover those additional costs?

Answer from Wes Streeting

I am grateful to the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for her question. I pay tribute to the children's hospice in her constituency and, indeed, to Haven House children's hospice, which serves my constituency.

Not addressed: The specific commitment was not provided.

How: Tribute

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