15.01.20
Extra £33.9bn a year by 2024 for the NHS
Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will today (January 15 2020) illustrate the NHS Long Term Plan Funding Bill to Parliament. The bill will protect in law an extra £33bn every year by 2024 for the NHS to transform care.
The bill will contain a ‘double-lock’ commitment that places legal duty on both the Secretary of State and the Treasury to uphold this minimum level of NHS revenue funding over the next 4 years.
The bill is not aimed to limit the NHS in deciding how funding is spent and where – a decision that is made by local clinicians for their local populations.
Since the election of the new government, this will be one of the first pieces of domestic legislation to go through. Placing the NHS top of the domestic agenda.
The bill will place a legal duty on the government to guarantee a minimum level of spending every year, rising to £148.5bn by 2024.
In this beginning stage of annual funding injection, the government has already provided an extra £6.2bn since April 2019, following the launch of the Long Term Plan in January 2019.
The bill provides safeguards that mean the Treasury will be required to ensure the annual supply estimates for the department’s NHS budget cannot be reduced, creating a legal exception that protects frontline NHS funding for the first time.
This comes on top of recent pledges:
- To build 40 brand new hospitals up and down the country, backed by £2.8 bn
- An extra £1.8bn for capital spending, including £850 million for 20 hospital upgrades and urgent infrastructure projects
- £450m for new scanners for the latest in Artificial Intelligence technology.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I have heard loud and clear that the priority of the British people is the NHS. Guaranteeing frontline services, the biggest cash boost in history is another huge step towards making sure this treasured institution has everything it needs to deliver world-class care.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “During the election campaign, we committed to boosting funding for our NHS over the course of the Parliament and ensuring these new resources get to the frontline so that patients receive the care they need.
“With this unprecedented bill, we will enshrine in law the largest cash settlement in NHS history – bringing the total annual budget to almost £150 billion within 5 years.”