Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, tonight denied that there would be any delays to April’s tax grab for NHS. However it is being called upon to do so despite mounting calls.
Mr Javid insisted the national insurance hike — which will strip the average family of £600 a year — was not ‘under threat’.
He re-iterated his support for the increase, which will bring in an extra £12billion for the NHS and social care.
Javid said that extra funding was necessary for hospitals to remove waiting lists. This has been a problem since Covid’s rise to unprecedented heights.
It is being recommended to the Government that they reconsider the 1.25 percent increase, due April. This is when household face rising fuel bills, inflation, and council taxes.
A string of senior Tory MPs, business leaders and economists want Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plan scrapped.
Yesterday, Lord Frost, ex-Brexit chief, joined in the discussion, saying that the Government should scrap the plan since it was “not necessary”.
Sajid Javid, Health Secretary (pictured speaking today at the Commons Health and Social Care Committee), said that the April tax increase was secure.
NHS England released data showing that a record 5.98 million people waited for routine surgery in October. This is an increase of 5.83million from the previous month.
At today’s hearing, Jeremy Hunt (chair) asked Javid if he supported tax increases.
He replied, “Yes, I do.”
“It is very important that we ensure we have the long-term funding for both the NHS and social care. It’s about long-term financing.
Also, he was asked if the April tax increase was “under threat”. The Health Secretary denied the possibility and stated that the additional cash was secure.
The national insurance increase, which was announced last autumn, will raise £12billion to £13billion a year for the Treasury.
Although it was originally intended to fund social and health care, the majority of the funds for the first three year will be used to clear the post-Covid NHS backlog.
The national insurance rise will cost a worker on a £30,000 salary around £255 over a year – and £505 for anyone earning £50,000.
The opposition is mounting to the Tory backbenches levy. Former Brexit chief, the Prime Minister, said that the tax grab wasn’t necessary.
The peer, who resigned last year amid concern over the direction of Mr Johnson’s administration, said scrapping the increase was vital in the face of the cost of living crisis.
Lord Frost stated, “The April tax hikes were neither necessary nor justified.”
“Given new inflationary pressures and energy prices, it is even more critical to stop tax hikes and put the focus back on the growth of the economy. It is best to allow people to save more money.
Javid, during his appearance before the committee, also explained the government’s plans to ‘live with’ the virus.
He stated that vaccines and treatments like antivirals, as well as testing, would be at the top of this spring’s list.
“We need to be able to deal with the flu (Covid) in a similar way that, say, we are able to cope with influenza,” he stated.
‘I’m not for a second sort of saying it’s like flu, you know, look at sadly all the deaths we’ve had from Covid — over 150,000 from the start.
“It’s all about accepting that we have new defenses and the flu is not going to stop us from living, and we can’t allow Covid to do this anymore.
After millions of people were unable to access appointments due to the pandemic, Mr Javid stated that it was crucial for GPs to return to normal.
In order to allow GPs to provide the ramped up booster programme, vital health screenings for seniors and those with vulnerable conditions have been suspended from April until April.
Javid explained that the only thing we cannot do is ask doctors to cease doing regular work. This can help us in an emergency.
“In the future, we have to have a National Vaccination Service capable of dealing with Covid vaccines as well as other vaccinations without attracting workers from the NHS.
Javid further revealed that mandatory Covid vaccinations for NHS staff were being kept under review.
For patient safety, he said that jabs should be a mandatory requirement for employment. However, this was done when Delta was the predominant mutant strain and Omicron was not as it is now.
Mr. Javid stated that people made representations to him regarding Omicron changing their game.
He stated, “I believe it’s right in the light of Omicron to reflect on all of this and keep all Covid policy properly sort of under review.”
“Because Omicron’s is different from Delta. We don’t yet know the future variants. That was something we talked about earlier. We are now reflecting upon all of this.