THE Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Labour Government to exempt social care from the employer’s National Insurance tax rise.
The Chancellor has provided extra funding for the NHS and other public sector organizations in England to cover the cost of the tax rise.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens told BBC Wales last night extra money would be made available to Wales for a similar process and that the details would be announced over the coming days.
However, the vast majority of care providers are private and so won’t benefit from this help.
98% of care providers across the UK – 18,000 organisations – are small employers. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said care providers including care homes and those providing care in people’s homes should be exempt from the National Insurance tax hike.
Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said:
“Hammering small businesses with a tax hike is the wrong choice. It will hit people’s wages and jobs, but it also risks worsening the NHS crisis in Wales by hiking costs for care providers and pushing some to the brink.
“It just shows that yet again that this Labour Government seems to have forgotten about care. At the very least, the Chancellor should be exempting social care from this costly jobs tax.”
