Rushcliffe Liberal Democrats

Whilst Chancellor Rishi Sunak' has announced further help with energy bill today he's also still levying a £22.4 bn tax bill:

● £13.8 bn in personal tax rises this year - through the National Insurance rise and the freezing of Income Tax thresholds

● £8.6 bn in extra VAT due to inflation this year

There are 28 million households in the country. This means the £22.4 billion amounts to a total tax hike of £800 per household.

According to the latest Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast from March 2022, the Government will raise an additional £13.8 billion from personal taxes in 2022-23. This comprises £2.9bn from the freezing of Income Tax thresholds and £10.9bn from the National Insurance increase. This takes into account the increase in NI thresholds announced at the Spring Statement.

The additional £8.6bn VAT hit is based on the latest forecasts for VAT receipts from the OBR, compared to its previous forecast published last year. VAT receipts forecasts are taken from the OBR's Economic and fiscal outlooks for March 2021 and March 2022. The difference between the March 2021 and March 2022 forecasts amounts to an additional VAT hit of £8.6bn in 2022-23.

Responding to the Chancellor's announcement on the cost of living, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

"The Chancellor is hammering families with a £800 tax hike this year, more than wiping out what he announced today.

"It is the Sunak scam, promising you help but picking your pockets while you're not looking.

"Soaring inflation and devastating tax rises have left proud families who never dreamed they would find themselves in trouble struggling to pay the bills.

"The British people need help right now, but instead have been left abandoned again for months on end.

"The simplest way to help people right now would be for Rishi Sunak to scrap his unfair tax hikes, starting with VAT. That would put money now back into people's pockets, boost the economy and support struggling businesses."

• One in eight (13%) NHS dentists are approaching retirement, at a time when NHS dental appointments are scarce

• Top 10 worst areas for NHS dentist retirement timebomb includes rural areas cut off from health services

• Liberal Democrats have warned of a NHS dentist "retirement time bomb" facing local communities

One in eight NHS dentists are approaching retirement, research by the House of Commons Library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The party warned the figures show the dentist shortage crisis could soon get worse, especially for rural communities.

The data reveals that 3,416 dentists who carry out NHS work in England are over 55 years old and therefore close to retirement. This amounts to 14% of the 23,733 dentists carrying out NHS activity in 2020/21.

The figures also show the number of NHS dentists has fallen by almost 4% from 24,684 in 2019/202.

Areas at the greatest risk of an exodus of dentists include rural areas such as North East Lincolnshire in the North, where 29% of dentists are approaching retirement, and in the South West, with 20% of dentists in Cornwall and 17% of those in Devon and Dorset aged 55 or more. The other worst affected areas are Morecambe Bay in Cumbria (23%), Norfolk and Waveney (21%), and East Sussex (19%).

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to get a grip of this potential 'retirement time bomb' by improving access to NHS dentists. The party is also calling on the Government to ensure there are enough NHS dentists in coming years by reforming the current NHS dental contract and committing to long-term workforce planning.

It comes as the government admitted it does not know how many dental practices applied to access an extra £50m of funding announced earlier this year. Responding to a parliamentary question tabled by the Liberal Democrats, Conservative Health Minister Maria Caulfield MP admitted that the government does not know how many dental practices applied to access the funds or how many of those applications were successful. The Liberal Democrats said the response showed the government is "asleep at the wheel" on the dentist crisis.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

"The shortage of NHS dentists is a scandal and is now set to get worse with this retirement ticking time bomb.

"It is sadly no wonder people are desperately turning to DIY dentistry and being forced to spend hundreds, if not thousands, on private care.

"Remote rural areas already get a raw deal on health services. Ambulance services are at breaking point in the South West, and now areas like Cornwall and Devon are most at risk from a dentist retirement crisis.

"All ministers have been able to cook up is a botched funding scheme which it seems has made no impact. It shows this Conservative Government is asleep at the wheel on the NHS dentist shortage crisis and is completely failing patients.

"The Liberal Democrats are demanding action now to recruit more NHS dentists, so people can get the treatment they need."

• Lib Dems call for urgent plan to improve cancer care after NHS targets missed in worst ever performance

• Over 2,000 people are missing out on a timely diagnosis every day while 15,000 are left waiting two months or more to start treatment

• Ministers accused of "sitting on their hands" while people are being left in pain

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to come forward with an urgent strategy to improve cancer care, after new statistics revealed that NHS England has yet again missed all four of its major targets for cancer waiting times.

Analysis by the party shows that from January to March 2022, nearly 150,000 people waited longer than two weeks to see a consultant after an urgent referral from their GP, or an average of 1,600 per day.

It means only 78% of people saw a consultant within two weeks of a GP referral, way below the NHS target of 93%.

The figures also show that almost 200,000 or 29.5% of people waited longer than 28 days to get a cancer diagnosis from their specialist after an urgent referral from a GP. This means the target of 75% of people getting their diagnosis within this time was missed and that the equivalent of over 2,000 people per day missed out on a timely diagnosis.

Over 6,000 (7.7%) patients waited a month or more to begin their first treatment after a decision to treat the cancer, almost double the 4% target.

Meanwhile, 15,000 or over one third of people waited two months or more to start cancer treatment after a referral from their GP. This means a target of 85% of people starting treatment within that period is being badly missed by 21 points.

It comes after no reference was made to improving cancer care in last week's Queen's Speech. Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron has tabled an amendment to the Queen's Speech, calling for a comprehensive strategy to be put forward on how the Government plans to meet a commitment for 80% of patients to be seen within two months by 2023. The party is also calling for the Government to hire more health staff, particularly specialist cancer nurses.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said:

"This Conservative Government has no real plan to fix the crisis in cancer waiting times. Ministers are sitting on their hands while people are being left in pain, or have to watch their loved ones suffering.

"The Conservatives have taken the NHS for granted for years and have their heads in the sand over huge staff shortages. The Queen's Speech didn't mention cancer care and Boris Johnson hasn't even brought forward any new legislation to tackle this mess.

"He needs to bring forward a plan now - people bravely battling cancer deserve far better than being abandoned by a Government that doesn't do enough to ease their burden."