And this is where the NI tax rise is going...

THE controversial National Insurance rise beginning this week is vital for dealing with the NHS backlog, the Government says.

It warns that up to 10 million people did not come forward for treatment during the pandemic and six million are now waiting for elective care in England – up from 4.4 million before Covid hit.

The Department of Health says that before the pandemic “no one waited longer than 18 months for elective treatment but now 106,000 people are”.

A £36billion investment is planned over the next three years to put health and care services “on a sustainable footing”.

National Insurance contributions will rise to pay for it, and the increase will be known as the Health and Social Care Levy.

The department says the funding will help to deliver up to 160 community diagnostic centres across the country by 2025, including 73 that are already open and have delivered more than 700,000 tests. By July this year, it says, nobody should be waiting longer than two years for elective treatment, with waits of longer than a year eliminated by March 2025.

And by March 2024, three-quarters of patients who have been urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer should be diagnosed, or have cancer ruled out, within 28 days.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “From Wednesday, the Health and Social Care Levy will raise billions to improve services that really matter to the public, and help us recover and reform as we begin to live with Covid.this critical investment in our nation’s future will be paid for by those with the broadest shoulders.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak added: “The money raised by the levy will enable us to deliver improved services for patients, cut waiting times and make social care funding more fair.”

However, the tax rise – with people paying 1.25p in the pound more in National Insurance – remains deeply controversial, coming at a time when the country faces greatly increased living costs.

‘The levy will raise billions for services’