Income Tax (Charge)

Will Forster Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)]

I am surprised to be called so quickly, so thank you, Madam Chair. I was really pleased by the statement that the Secretary of State is looking at how to compensate those in the health and social care sector for national insurance rises. I have in my constituency Central Surrey Health, a not-for-profit, employee-owned group. It serves much of Surrey, and it stands to lose £500,000 as a result of the proposed changes. It delivers community services across Woking and Surrey, including most of the services in my constituency. It would be awful if we lost services as a result of measures introduced by the Government in a Budget that is supposed to invest in the NHS. I welcome the Government’s investment in the NHS, but they must not make the mistake of increasing national insurance on social care firms, health partners and GPs.

I am concerned about the elephant in the room: social care. Local authorities and our health system are really struggling, but social care helps to fix things. It is a more efficient use of our money to invest in social care and prevention than spend on primary care in hospitals. The Government are rightly investing in the NHS, but they have failed to invest in our social care system. Surrey county council is under huge pressure, and Woking borough council has effectively gone bankrupt. It is reported that without further support, almost 50% of local authorities could go under. If the Government do not invest in social care, I fear that they will make the mistakes that the Conservatives made, which we do not want. We need to invest in social care, so I hope that the Government will agree to a cross-party social care agreement that tackles those issues.

I want to touch on the cost of living. The Government have to turn around an awful record from the previous Government. They have introduced some good measures and have suggested that they would increase the tax threshold—something for which we have long campaigned —but I am concerned about the national insurance rises, which will hit small businesses hard. I met many small businesses this morning in Woking, and they are really concerned about the impact of those rises. I like the rhetoric from the Prime Minister and the Government about this being a Government of service, and a Government who want to promote growth. They are using the correct wording, but good rhetoric needs to be followed up with good announcements. The Government say that they are going for growth, but their actions do not support that. They are ignoring Brexit, they are ignoring social care, which undermines our local authorities, and they are undermining small businesses.

The Budget is better than the Budgets of the previous Government, but that is nothing to shout about. It should be a lot better for my constituents in Woking, and for constituents of Members across the House.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

There will be a reduction in the time limit to three minutes after the next speaker. A note: when I am in the Chair in the Chamber, I am Madam Deputy Speaker, not Madam Chair; that is for Westminster Hall, or when the Chamber is in Committee. I call Richard Burgon.

Cancer Strategy for England

Will Forster Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing this debate on the urgent need for a comprehensive cancer strategy, and particularly for his moving personal story, which I think touched us all. In Woking, my constituency, and Surrey, my county, the situation is increasingly concerning, in a similar way to the situation he presented.

Woking does not have a dedicated cancer centre, meaning my constituents have to travel outside of the area to receive specialist care. This adds to the burden of those already facing the weight of a life-changing diagnosis. My constituency, like the rest of England, really wants a strategy that actively meets the needs of our patients and improves access to timely, high-quality cancer treatment.

This year, 2024, is projected to be the worst year on record for cancer care since the NHS last met its 62-day target in 2015. Already, more than 72,000 patients across the country have not been treated within the NHS’s 62-day window from referral to treatment. If those trends continue, we could see more than 107,000 patients treated outside the standard by the year’s end. That is simply not acceptable.

To put that into perspective, the number of patients who did not start treatment within the 62-day timeframe in 2015 was just under 27,000. By the end of 2023, that figure had risen to more than 100,000, and it continues to climb this year. That near four-fold increase is staggering. Each of those statistics represents real people—our constituents—facing unnecessary delays at the most critical time for them and their families.

The causes are clear, and so are the consequences. Each delay not only impacts the outcome for patients, but places strain on the healthcare system and the wider employment system. What we need now is a long-term, well-resourced cancer strategy, exactly as outlined earlier, that prioritises investment in early diagnosis, improves treatment infrastructure and supports the research needed to make real progress in combating cancer. Patients in Woking and across the whole country deserve nothing less. A national cancer strategy would help to reduce the postcode lottery for cancer care, ensure prompt treatment and provide patients with the security of knowing that our health system is equipped to meet their needs. I urge the Government, and particularly the Minister, to work with us to reverse this distressing trend and deliver the strategy that we desperately need.