Tax cuts, benefit increases, but not a single social care mention: Autumn Statement 2023
Labelled as ‘lukewarm’, Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement included more than 100 new announcements, but none of them offered any financial support for social care.
At 12:30PM today, Wednesday 22nd November, Jeremy Hunt delivered his new autumn budget in the House of Commons. As inflation levels have reached their lowest point in two years the government have finally decided they are able enough to offer financial support to help people slowly recover from the cost-of-living.
Nigel Green from the deVere Group said the statement was ‘the chancellors main opportunity outside of the budget to make tax and spending announcements and, with Labour 20 points ahead in the polls, one of the last chances for the government to shift the narrative for the Conservatives ahead of the general election.
‘While some measures announced today are clearly to be welcomed, the statement as a whole was surprisingly lukewarm.’
Within the statement, Mr Hunt unveiled that national insurance would be cut from 12% to 10% and that the Universal Credit Work Allowance for disabled claimants with housing costs will rise to £404 per month from April 2024 and £673 per month for those without housing costs.
However, the chancellor failed to announce any beneficial measures for the social care sector, who have been under immense pressures since the being of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Carers Trust’s CEO, Kirsty McHugh, said: ‘More than 100 measures were announced in the Autumn Statement. It is shameful that not one of them gets anywhere near easing a social care crisis that is causing so much suffering for so many. The system remains starved of investment and still has no long-term funding plan, despite years of empty promises.
‘For a chancellor who claims the best way to tackle poverty is through work, it’s scandalous that there is next to nothing in his Autumn Statement to help make that a reality for so many unpaid family carers. There are around seven million of them in the UK and many are being driven into poverty by having to give up paid work so they can look after loved ones. Without this unpaid workforce the social care system would collapse, yet the UK Government seems happy to let them prop it up with no extra support.
‘Even with Carer’s Allowance being raised in line with inflation, it remains the lowest benefit of its kind and in urgent need of reform. Yet again there is no attempt to tackle this and nothing to help the local carer organisations who support so many people. Two-fifths of unpaid carers have seen the intensity of their caring role increase in the past year, some caring for an extra 50 hours or more a week, yet the UK Government refuses to face this reality.’
In addition, Max Parmentier, CEO and Co-founder of Birdie, a home healthcare platform partnering with over 1000 homecare businesses, has echoed a similar view.
‘The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement has failed to address the health and social care crisis – despite the rising age of the population, the increasing complexity of healthcare conditions, and long waiting lists caused by staff shortages,’ said Max. ‘In short – the cavalry is not coming, and any real change must now come from within the sector.’
Max added: ‘The future of healthcare must be patient-centric – focused on prevention and proactive monitoring. Healthcare providers, local communities, families, and individuals must now fill the leadership vacuum left by this government and come together to transform our social care system – it will ‘take a village.
‘Countless initiatives already exist across the country where health and social care providers get together to improve care delivery and decrease care delivery costs. We encourage the government to recognise the success of these initiatives and amplify them as a first step towards a more efficient health and social care system.’
Image: ArtTower
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