NHS in line for funding boost
PHiLiP Hammond yesterday cleared the way for an NHS giveaway in the Autumn budget, as he signalled he could be ready to loosen the purse strings within months.
The Chancellor ruled out extra spending in tomorrow’s Spring Statement, but said there was ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.
He suggested both the Ministry of Defence and NHS could get cash boosts in the budget later this year.
Mr Hammond said debt was still too high and had to be brought down. ‘There is light at the end of the tunnel because what we are about to see is debt starting to fall after it has been growing for 17 continuous years.
‘That is a very important moment for us but we are still in the tunnel at the moment,’ he told the bbC’s Andrew Marr Show.
‘We have a debt of £1.8trillion – 86.5 per cent of our GDP. All the international organisations recognise that is higher than the safe level.’
economists expect Mr Hammond to announce that borrowing is set to be around £7billion lower in 2017-18 than had been predicted. but he made clear that he would not be making any changes to spending in his statement.
He said: ‘if there is the flexibility, the space to do something, we will decide in the autumn how we are going to use that but we will continue to take a balanced approach, addressing the debt problem, reducing taxes for hard working families and putting money into our public services.
‘it is wrong to say that every penny of capacity has to go to paying down the debt but it is equally wrong that every penny should go into additional public spending. We need a balanced approach.’
Any new spending on the NHS in england will automatically lead to a funding boost for the Scottish Government.
This is because the barnett formula, which is used to work out the size of the block grant given to the Scottish Government, passes on a share of all spending in england in devolved areas.
The Chancellor added that he accepted there were financial pressures on defence, and told iTV’s Peston on Sunday that ministers were close to finalising a pay deal with NHS workers in england that would give many their first substantial salary increase since 2010.
Nurses, midwives, ambulance staff and healthcare assistants would all benefit although doctors, dentists and some senior managers will be exempt as they have a separate pay system.