Sunak’s recent decision to ’empower’ patients by giving them the option to travel further or go private to receive treatment highlights the continued struggles of the NHS to cut down on waiting times.
Sunak’s Decision
Rishi Sunak recently announced that GPs will now be required to offer patients up to 5 healthcare providers where clinically appropriate. They will have to give patients the option to travel further for treatment or to go to a private alternative (bypassing the NHS).
The aim of this measure is to tackle the continued NHS backlog in an attempt to reduce waiting times for treatment.
“While we agree that patients should be at the centre of decision making about their care, doctors working in both primary and secondary care are acutely aware that our patients just want to be seen in good time and close to home. It is long waiting lists, due to the long-term undervaluing of NHS staff and poor workforce planning, that are preventing this from happening, not a lack of patient choice”
“There are no shortcuts here- in order to make real progress, the Government must focus its efforts on addressing the workplace crisis across the NHS, investing in the health and appropriately valuing staff. That is the only way to tackle the record-breaking backlog and help patients who are desperate to be treated swiftly and close to home”
This is a particularly prominent set of points when we consider figures that show the NHS to be strained, and its staff to be overworked. The number of patients per fully qualified GP has grown in 66% of practices since 2015; this means that each GP is having to deal with more and more patients every year.
Further to this, the BMA recommends that GPs see no more than 25 patients a day. Despite this, over the whole of March, the local GP practices for 62% of people living in England’s most deprived neighbourhoods saw over 25 patients a day on average.
The Turn to Private Healthcare
Sunak’s recent decision highlights NHS’s struggle as he is essentially trying to get GPs to get more patients to use alternatives to the NHS (through private options), to reduce the load it is taking on.
Therefore, it comes as little surprise that Aviva reported a 25% increase in the number of new health insurance policies taken out with them in the first 3 months of this year. Private healthcare is becoming increasingly enticing as the NHS continues to be understaffed, underfunded, continually backlogged, and plagued with strikes from its stressed-out workers.
by Red Star Wealth
The idea of a four-day working week has gained traction over recent years, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a shift away from traditional working models to hybrid and flexible working patterns.
Different Four-Day Work Week Models
One version of the four-day work week is when employee hours are reduced but wages remain the same, such as an employee working one day less each week but still being paid the same amount each month.
Alternatively, employees may compress their full-time working hours over a four-day period, meaning that five days’ worth of work is compressed into four days of longer shifts.
Iceland’s Shift to a Four-Day Working Week
Trials of the four-day working week have been undertaken in various countries over recent years. Of these countries, Iceland’s trial seems to have been the largest success.
Between 2015 and 2019, Iceland led one of the largest four-day working week pilots, with a trial involving around 2,500 participants (making up around 1% of their working population).
This trial was hugely successful, triggering a change in Iceland’s standard working hours, with 86% of the country’s workforce now working shorter hours or gaining the right to shorten their hours if they wish to.
The world’s largest four-day working week trial, involving 61 companies and around 2,900 workers, took place between June and December in the UK last year.
Participating companies designed policies best suited to their own industry and workforce; they did not have to implement any particular type of four-day week, as long as employees experienced a meaningful reduction in work time whilst maintaining 100% of their pay.
39% of employees were less stressed after the trial
71% had reduced levels of burnout
60% found they were more able to combine paid work with care responsibilities
62% found it easier to combine work with social life
The number of staff leaving participating companies dropped by 57% over the trial period
Therefore, the trial was a resounding success for those involved. In fact, 56 out of 61 participating companies have chosen to continue the four-day working week, representing a 92% success rate, with 18 of these companies confirming this policy is a permanent change.
Whilst it may be expected that employees working less hours for the same pay would create a drop in company revenue, this was not the case for those involved in the trial. Instead, company revenue rose by an average of 1.4% over the trial period, and when compared to a similar period from previous years, participating organisations reported revenue increases of 35% on average.
Benefits of the Four-Day Working Week
Improved employee productivity
Reduced carbon footprint (due to a reduction in work commutes)
Improved work-life balance of employees
Fewer work absences
Improved employee retention
Maintained, or improved, company revenues (based on findings from the UK’S Four-Day Week Pilot)
However…
Unfortunately, a four-day working week does not suit all industries as it would not work practically for some professions, such as public transport networks or emergency services.
It also goes without saying that the four-day week does not suit all workers; it all comes down to personal preference.
Benjamin Laker, professor at Henley Business School, states:
“The biggest barrier to companies introducing a four-day workweek is likely a combination of entrenched culture and resistant bosses”
“Some managers may view the shorter workweek as reducing their control, or making it more difficult to manage employees”
This is a significant point, as one of the biggest barriers to the UK shifting to a four-day working week is that it goes against what many of us are used to. The four-day week goes against traditional working patterns. However, perhaps the Covid-19 pandemic has helped us embrace non-traditional working patterns, as it led to many people working from home, with many companies maintaining flexible work practices today.
by Red Star Wealth
Let’s have a look at some of the key changes announced in Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget earlier today.
Pensions
Hunt announced that the pensions lifetime allowance was to be abolished, meaning more people can save unlimited amounts into their private pension without incurring a tax charge.
He also announced an increase in the tax-free yearly allowance for pension contributions, taking it from £40,000 a year to £60,000 a year.
Fuel, Alcohol and Tobacco
The 5 pence cut to fuel duty on petrol and diesel was due to end in April but Hunt has announced a freeze of fuel duty for another year, helping keep down costs for motorists.
Tax on tobacco is set to rise by 2% above the rate of inflation, or for rolling tobacco, 6% above inflation.
Most alcohol duties will be rising in line with inflation as of August, meaning supermarket prices for booze will increase. However, Hunt has also mentioned a draught relief scheme to be implemented from August 2023 which should keep pint prices in pubs down.
Energy
Energy bills for the typical British household were due to rise to £3,000 a year from April but the energy price guarantee has now been extended until the end of June, keeping this figure at £2,500 instead.
Hunt has that the government will invest £20 billion over the next 2 decades into low carbon energy projects.
Nuclear energy will now be classed as environmentally friendly for investment purposes, meaning it will qualify for the same investment incentives as renewable energy.
Hunt has also stated that £63 million will be given to leisure centres to help them cope with rising swimming pool heating costs and investment to become more energy efficient.
Childcare
One of the main highlights of the budget is the expansion in state-funded childcare. Hunt has promised up to 30 hours a week of free childcare for eligible households with children as young as 9 months. This won’t be fully implemented until September 2025 but will be rolled out in stages from April 2024.
Families on universal credit are set to receive childcare up front rather than in arrears. Instead of a cap of £646 per month per child, this will now be increased to a maximum of £951.
Hunt has further announced relaxed rules in England to allow childminders to look after more children.
He’s also increasing the funding paid to nurseries providing free childcare by £204 million from September this year, rising to £288 million next year.
Corporation Tax
Corporation tax will indeed be increasing, taking it from a 19% tax on taxable profits over £250,000, to a 25% tax. However, Hunt has also announced a new policy of full capital expensing over the next 3 years which will allow companies to deduct money invested into new machinery and technology from their profits, helping to reduce their tax liability.
Support for the Vulnerable
Hunt has announced a new system of Universal Support across England and Wales. This is a new voluntary employment scheme for those who are disabled or have health conditions. Up to £4,000 per person will be invested to help support around 50,000 people a year in finding suitable work which caters to their needs.
Hunt has also announced funding of:
£400 million for mental health and skeletal support
£3 million to help those with special needs to enter the workforce
An additional £10 million over the next 2 years to help charities in England who work in suicide prevention
Other Notable Points
-£200 million this year to help local councils in England repair potholes
An extra £11 million in defence budget funding over the next 5 years
by Red Star Wealth
In yesterday’s Autumn statement, Hunt announced £30 billion worth of spending cuts and £24 billion worth of tax rises over the next 5 years. This increased taxation and cuts to government spending is aimed at rebuilding the economy after instability from the Covid pandemic, Truss and Kwarteng’s failure of a mini-budget, and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
“Stealth Taxes”
Income tax’s personal allowance, the main national insurance thresholds and inheritance tax thresholds have been frozen for a further two years.
Some members of the opposition have branded these as “stealth taxes”. This is because the freezes effectively means that people will have to pay more tax as wage increases (due to inflation) will push them into higher tax brackets.
This payment of higher taxes alongside continuing inflation will mean the cost of living crisis will be hitting us all even harder.
Higher Rate Tax Payers
Currently, those earning between £50,271 and £150,000 a year fall into the higher rate income tax band of 40%. Those earning above £150,000 a year then pay the additional rate of income tax of 45%.
As of April 2023, this threshold will reduce from £150,000 to £125,140, meaning higher earners will be paying more tax.
Protecting the Vulnerable
Hunt has announced additional cost-of-living payments for the most vulnerable:
£900 for those claiming benefits
£300 for pensioners
£150 for those on disability benefits
He has also introduced a cap on the increase in social rents, at a maximum of 7% in the 2023/2024 tax year.
The triple lock on pensions has been maintained, meaning state pensions will increase in line with inflation. Working age and disability benefits are also to increase in line with inflation.
The national living wage is to increase by 9.7%, rising to £10.42 in April 2023, which will benefit the lowest-paid employees in the UK.
Funding the NHS, Schools and Social Care
Hunt has announced an extra £2.3 billion per year to be invested in schools over the next two years.
He has also announced an increase in the NHS budget by an additional £3.3 billion in each of the next two years.
Additionally, Hunt has allocated adult social care additional grant funding of £1 billion next year and £1.7 billion the year after. As well as this, the implementation of the Dilnot reforms has been delayed by two years. These reforms would cap the amount any one person in England would have to pay towards social care to £86,000. Delaying this means we will have more funding for the social care sector.
Energy and Electricity
In May 2022, Rishi Sunak introduced a tax as chancellor called the Energy Profits Levy. This was a 25% surcharge applied to companies profiting from extracting UK oil and gas, and was to run as a temporary levy until the end of 2025. In yesterday’s Autumn statement, Hunt announced that this windfall tax will increase to 35% from January 2023 and will also stay in place for longer, until March 2028.
A temporary new electricity generator levy will also be introduced. This will impose a 45% windfall tax on profits of selling electricity above £75MWh.
From 2025, electric vehicles will no longer be exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty (often referred to as Road Tax), which will help further raise Government funds.
It was also confirmed that plans for £700 million of Government funding into the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk are to go ahead. This new nuclear power plant is expected to create 10,000 jobs and generate enough power for 6 million homes. The aim is to get the UK on the road to energy independence, so that we are no longer so heavily affected by changes in global gas prices in the future. It also signals the first UK state backing for a nuclear project in over 30 years. However, over the plant’s expected 13-17 years of construction, the government has predicted it will add an average surcharge of around £1 a month to household bills. This means that, yet again, our finances are likely to be under even more strain.
