GPs and charities will not get additional support in NI raid, suggests Starmer

GP surgeries and charities hit by the Government’s National Insurance raid will not get additional support, Sir Keir Starmer has suggested.

The NHS and public sector are exempt from the increase in employers’ NI contributions from April, but most GPs, many of which run as small businesses, will not be.

Hospices and charities, including Marie Curie and Mencap, have also written to the Treasury warning that the rise will force them to cut staff or limit their services.

The Prime Minister has appeared to reject calls from family doctors and charitable organisations for any exemptions or additional support to alleviate the impact.

Asked if such businesses and organisations could expect any further assistance, Sir Keir said: “For smaller businesses, smaller entities, smaller charities, then the support is already there.

“But we had to take a decision in this Budget to stabilise the economy, it’s the single most important thing for investment.”

He continued: “There is a link between what we are doing to stabilise the economy and the investment we are getting in.

“That £63 billion in the investment summit, that is way beyond anything that has come in before.

“That is the way to grow our economy, so that ultimately we are all better off.”

‘There is already support there’

Rachel Reeves unveiled plans in the Budget to increase employers’ NI contributions from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent in April.

She will also lower the threshold at which companies start to pay on an employee’s salary, from £9,100 per year to £5,000.

The chairman of the BMA GP committee wrote to Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, earlier this month in protest of the inclusion of GPs in the NI raid.

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer argued that family doctors should receive full reimbursements if they cannot be made exempt.

But the Prime Minister’s comments on Monday signalled that the Government will not be making any such offer to GPs in compensation for the tax increase.

Sir Keir told journalists: “It depends on the size, obviously for smaller businesses, smaller entities there is already support there in terms of the way that we structured this.”

The changes to NI are expected to raise £25 billion per year for the Treasury, a big chunk of the revenue for Labour’s tax and spend Budget.

The Institute of General Practice Management, representing family doctors, has estimated that the average surgery’s tax bill will go up by around £20,000 a year.

For some practices, it is estimated that the Budget changes will result in costs equivalent to five nurses’ salaries.

Meanwhile, private care homes, also hit by the NI raise, have warned they face a £2.4 billion funding hole, compounded by the changes to the national living wage.

Ms Reeves announced that the wage would be raised by 6.7 per cent, which – together with tax changes – could see care home fees rise by £3,000 a year as providers seek to recoup costs.

It has been suggested that the Government has left some room to reimburse GPs in funding packages next year, which are yet to be agreed.