Fury over Rishi Sunak’s £30billion funding cut for the NHS in the Budget amid operations backlog

Rishi Sunak is accused of ‘hidden NHS spending cut’: Day-today spending will amount to £30bn less because budget doesn’t include extra cash to deal with non-Covid care

  • Documents show cuts of £30 billion at the Department for Health from April
  • NHS England sees funding fall from £147.7billion to £139.1billion from next year 
  • OBR chief: ‘No explicit additional resources’ for things like delayed operations 

Rishi Sunak was under pressure today to explain a £30billion cut in cash for the NHS hidden in his Budget.

Documents released alongside his fiscal showcase yesterday revealed there is a planned cut of £30 billion in day-to-day spending at the Department for Health and Social Care from April of this year, falling from £199.2 billion to £169.1 billion.

NHS England will see funding fall from £147.7 billion to £139.1 billion from next year, unless ministers commit to more funding for the health service.

It came as the head of the independent spending watchdog revealed that the Budget offered no cash past the end of the 2021-22 financial year to deal with the legacy of the pandemic.

Richard Hughes, chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the Government had provided ‘no explicit additional resources’ for things like catching up on all the operations that have been delayed, as well as an ongoing vaccination programme.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer lashed out at the cut in funding on a visit to a hospital in the Midlands today.

‘I think a lot of people will be pretty astonished to know that the day-to-day funding for the NHS is being cut in yesterday’s Budget, hidden in that Budget was that cut,’ he said while touring the Royal Derby Hospital, which he said was ‘still struggling with Covid cases’.

‘What’s coming next is the backlog of cases – 4.5 million people on waiting lists, understandably not been dealt with in the last year, so the NHS is going to have a really hard year and I think most people will be pretty astonished that the funding is being cut.

Documents released alongside his fiscal showcase yesterday revealed there is a planned cut of £30 billion in day-to-day spending at the Department for Health and Social Care from April. Mr Sunak pictured with the PM in Middlesbrough today

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer lashed out at the cut in funding on a visit to a hospital in the Midlands today.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer lashed out at the cut in funding on a visit to a hospital in the Midlands today.

‘If you don’t fund the NHS day-to-day you are heading for trouble and if we have a health crisis we are going to have an economic crisis and so the two are linked.’

Boris Johnson said the Government has already invested ‘huge quantities’ into health and social care throughout the coronavirus pandemic when asked what the sector’s workers had to do to get a pay rise or investment.

The Prime Minister, speaking to reporters on a visit to Teesport, Middlesbrough, said: ‘We have invested already in the health and social care sector in huge quantities throughout the pandemic.

‘And I think the whole country is massively grateful to healthcare workers and social care workers for what they have done.

‘About £52 billion went into the NHS just to help cope with the pandemic, £1.5 billion into social care, and £35 billion to support local councils in all sorts of ways.’ 

Pressed on why there was no pay rise for health and social care workers in the Budget, Mr Johnson said: ‘A lot of these are obviously in the private sector, the care home workers.

‘What we’ve done is had record increases in the living wage, and again the living wage will be going up, which will be supported by the Government, again in April. Our debt to those workers is massive.’

Mr Hughes said the Government has provided a lot of additional resources over the last year to deal with the cost of the pandemic.

But speaking on BC Radio 4’s Today programme he added: ‘But it’s provided basically no explicit additional resources beyond the coming financial year for the legacy of the pandemic for public services.

‘So if we think we’re going to need an annual revaccination programme, an ongoing test and trace capacity, to catch up on all the operations which the NHS hasn’t been able to do over the past year…

‘At the moment the Government hasn’t set aside any additional resources for that activity, and in fact what it’s done is cut about £15 billion of non-Covid spending beyond next year.

‘So it’s actually set itself up for more difficult spending rounds coming up this autumn, because it’s put aside even fewer resources to deal with those those legacy issues coming out of the pandemic.’