The Liberal Democrats have become the first major party to publicly commit to increasing NHS funding to levels recommended in the NHS Five Year Forward View – but the pledge depends on ongoing economic growth and the elimination of the budget deficit.
Deputy prime minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg committed to raising NHS funding by £8bn in real terms by 2020-21 - but, he has not yet explained where the majority of the cash will come from.
The £8bn figure was first stated by Monitor chief executive David Bennett on the publication of the forward view in October. It is believed to be the minimum needed by the service, on top of a transition fund and unprecedented annual efficiency gains of up to 3 per cent.
However, the Liberal Democrats’ pledge has not been fully costed. It includes the £2bn announced in December’s autumn statement, much of which was funded via underspending in other departments and reallocations of existing Department of Health cash into the NHS commissioning budget.
This funding will be recurrent, the party says, and will be topped up with an extra £1bn from 2016-17 onwards, announced at its annual conference last autumn.
The Lib Dems have not explained where the remaining £5bn will come from, but Mr Clegg said the extra cash depends on the budget deficit having been eliminated by 2017-18, and that it would depend on the economy growing. Giving the NHS the funding it needs is an “absolute priority” for the party, a spokeswoman said, although the £8bn has not yet been described as a red line in any future coalition negotiations after May’s general election.
Mr Clegg said: “We’re the only party, by managing things responsibly and in a balanced way, that can meet the Simon Stevens challenge and meet it in full.”
He said he would set out how he proposes to bridge the funding gap “in the coming days”.
The Liberal Democrats have three priorities for the extra funding:
- mental health;
- integrated out of hospital health and social care; and
- joined up community services and primary care.
The Conservatives have so far pledged to give the NHS real terms funding rises throughout the next Parliament, effectively extending the current government’s policy.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham tweeted yesterday that Labour will soon publish a “detailed and costed” 10 year plan for the NHS and social care.
The plan is expected to include a vision for how services will develop, and will set out how they will be funded in future. It is currently set to be published at the end of January.
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