Budget Resolutions

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Monday 11th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Dyke (Somerton and Frome) (LD)]

It is disappointing to see the Government again attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of my constituents in Somerton and Frome. Going into the Budget, the public were clear: they desperately wanted the crisis affecting our public services to be prioritised. But once again, the Government have neglected to address it.

The Office for Budget Responsibility states that public spending per head has fallen by £680 in the past three years. The Budget does nothing to rectify that and nothing to provide an immediate fix for our NHS. In fact, the extra £2.5 billion only averts a real-terms cut and is not an increase on this year’s spending. By the end of 2023, 2.8 million people in the UK were economically inactive for health reasons—700,000 more since before the covid pandemic. If we want to grow the economy, we need to fix the NHS, but once again the Government refuse to do that.

My constituents in Somerton have been unable to see a dentist for over four years. That is simply not good enough, but it is no surprise given that there was a near 17% decline in the number of dentists in Somerset between 2015-16 and 2022-23. Currently, there is just one dentist in Somerset for almost 2,000 patients, leaving many people without access to care and in dental agony. The issue is also prevalent in Lewes, where the dentist crisis has become so severe that the Ringmer dental practice will be offering only private treatment. The practice blames a “chronic lack of investment” in NHS dentistry. This is a disgrace. With the tax burden already at its highest since the second world war through unfair Tory stealth taxes, the Liberal Democrats would seek to properly fund our public services in a fair way. We would reverse the Conservative tax cuts for the big banks, which could generate £18 billion over five years. We would also put a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants, generating a further £15 billion over five years.

The Chancellor’s promised 1% growth in public spending totally fails to recognise the pressures that the country is facing. The Budget is so short-sighted. I agree with the former Liberal Democrat leader and Business Secretary Vince Cable who said that the Budget leaves a “booby trap” as it fails to recognise the pressures that an ageing population will place on our public services.

Like many rural counties, Somerset has an ageing population, and the average age in Somerton and Frome is 54 years. Spiralling financial pressures on adult social care are ever-increasing—that has been constantly and loudly raised by leaders in local government—yet the Government have failed once again to recognise and understand that. Two care homes—one locally in Frome in my constituency and the other just outside—have recently warned that they may have to close due to significant financial pressures, potentially leaving nearly 70 vulnerable and elderly residents displaced. Those care homes provide an essential service. If they close, residents will have nowhere to go locally. It should not have to be like this. Why are we leaving our elderly with such pressure at a time when the system should be there to look after and care for them?

Ultimately, it is clear that the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have provided a Budget that does not offer people security in the public services they rely on. The system is broken. The situation is not sustainable. The Government have squeezed services dry and merely paid lip service to those who rely on them. I hope that the Prime Minister does not bottle it like his Chancellor but calls a May election so that my constituents get the change of Government they deserve.