Jeremy Hunt defends NHS funding figure after taunts from Labour

The dispute over NHS funding commitments erupted after Sarah Wollaston, the Conservative head of the Commons Health Committee, attacked the £10 billion figure which she said made it seem as if NHS England was "awash with cash".

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But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt today stood by the figure and told Dr Wollaston that he did not accept her suggestion that it gave a "false impression" of the NHS funding situation.

Mr Ashworth asked Mr Hunt to admit that the Government had not actually given the NHS the money it required as he suggested Conservative funding promises were now "completely in tatters".

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Raising the issue in the Commons as an urgent question, he said: "It has now been confirmed this figure is 'not only incorrect but risks giving a false impression that the NHS is awash with cash'.

"Isn't it the reality that this Government has cut adult social care? They have cut the public health budget? Have cut the NHS capital budget? And now we learn that the average amount we spend on health care for each person in this country will actually fall in 2018/19.

"Doesn't this raise serious questions about the claims ministers and indeed prime ministers have been making from that despatch box?

"In fact, the only way that the Government's figures could be further discredited is if the Secretary of State slapped them on the side of a bus and got the Foreign Secretary to drive it."

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Dr Wollaston outlined her concerns in a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond.

She warned a "false impression" was being given that the NHS was being boosted by £10 billion over the five years of its spending review, when she said the real figure was £4.5 billion.

Dr Wollaston argued the £10 billion figure could only be considered correct if NHS England was specified as the recipient of the cash and by recognising that some of the money had been taken from other health budgets.

She also warned that NHS per capita spending would actually fall in 2018/19.

However, the Government is adamant the £10 billion figure is accurate.

Dr Wollaston asked Mr Hunt in the Commons if he recognised the impact moving money away from public health budgets has had on services as she insisted she stuck by her committee's appraisal of the £10 billion figure.

Mr Hunt replied: "I don't agree with the letter you wrote today and I'm afraid I do think your calculations are wrong.

"The use of the £10 billion figure was not, as you said in your letter, incorrect.

"The Government has never claimed that there was an extra £10 billion increase in the Department of Health budget.

"Indeed, the basis of that number hasn't even come from the Government, it's come from NHS England and their calculations as to what they need to implement the forward view."

He added: "What they asked for was money to implement the forward view.

"They asked for £8 billion over five years, in fact they got £10 billion over six years or £9 billion over five years.

"Whichever one you take, it's either £1 billion or £2 billion more than the minimum they said they needed."

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Mr Hunt rejected Mr Ashworth's criticisms as he attacked Labour's record on delivering health services.

He said: "I'll tell you what creates the most misleading impression: That is a Labour Party claiming to want more funding for the NHS when in the areas they actually run it the opposite has happened.

"Indeed, in the first four years of the last parliament Labour cut NHS funding in Wales when it went up in England - yes, they did, those are the official figures - and this is the context where the Barnett formula gives the government in Wales over £700 more per head to spend on public services so there is more money in the pocket."

Mr Hunt later suggested taxpayers will have to pay more to protect NHS services.

Liberal Democrat former health minister Norman Lamb asked: "Isn't there an urgent need to be absolutely straight with the British public about the resources we'll need to maintain both the NHS and the care system, and to confront the fact that we'll all actually have to pay a bit more to ensure that our loved ones get care when they need it."

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Mr Hunt, in his reply, said: "I think the answer to your question is yes and that's why we are putting in more money in this Parliament.

"My own view is that in future parliaments we will need to continue to increase the amount of funding going into the NHS.

"The only point I'd make is the thing that funds the NHS is a strong economy and so we have to make sure those increases in NHS funding are sustainable and compatible with a strong economy."

Tory Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) said: "There will never ever be enough money to go into the NHS when actually the case is looked at."

He added to Mr Hunt: "Don't you find, as I do, utterly nauseating the sanctimonious finger-wagging from the (Labour front bench) when (First Minister Carwyn Jones) in Wales said they would make a cut of 8% in Wales in their NHS?

"That's the legacy of Labour."

Mr Hunt agreed, adding: "If you look at the situation in Wales, where people wait twice as long to have a hip replaced, where A&E is about 10% lower than it is in England, you see the consequences for patients in Wales are horrific.

"That's why I think everyone watching today's exchanges will take them with a big pinch of salt."

Tory Anne Main (St Albans) said: "I think it's regrettable that (Dr Wollaston) has led this attack on the Government, which is doing so much."