Income Tax (Charge)

Tom Gordon Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)]

There are two key points that stick out in the Budget. The first has been referenced by colleagues from across the House, and it is the elephant in the room to which Liberal Democrats keep referring: social care. Members have eloquently made the point that if we do not fix social care, we will not fix the NHS. A personal experience of mine is a great example. A couple of years ago, my grandfather sadly passed away. He spent the last six months of his life bed blocking in hospital, repeatedly getting covid and pneumonia because he could not leave hospital and go home. I do not blame the NHS for his passing, but if he had been better cared for with an adult social care package at home, there might have been a different outcome.

The problem with the Budget is that while there is a token gesture for local government, what is provided is nowhere near enough to fix the gap in adult social care. The House is full of Members who have worked in local government and served as councillors, and who understand that often more than half a budget goes on adult social care. The problem will not be fixed by our tinkering around the edges; we need a lot more to support social care and the NHS.

I am worried about unintended consequences. A couple of weeks ago, I met a constituent who is working in the NHS. She is a single parent, and her daughter has SEND issues. Because local authority schools in the area could not meet her needs, she paid for her daughter to go to an independent, fee-paying school where she could get the support that she needed, but because of the introduction of VAT on school fees, my constituent will have to consider leaving the NHS and working in the private sector, so that she can afford to keep her daughter in that school and meet her needs. I am worried about the wider ramifications of some of the Government’s decisions. In this case, healthcare staff would be taken out of the NHS because of Budget measures. I hope the Government will reflect on that, and consider what more can be done to ensure that we support NHS staff in their current roles, whether that is giving them more pay rises or more support in the workplace, or by ensuring that someone does not have to leave their NHS role in order to afford to keep the provision of their daughter’s SEND needs and capabilities.

Earlier the Secretary of State made a point about prevention. Local authorities often provide that first line of public health prevention, but the money that underpins that is just not enough. We know that every pound spent saves countless more for the NHS, so I urge the Secretary of State to take a strong approach to prevention and invest in community pharmacies.