Blog: Money for everything, everywhere, just not your pay rise

Today’s budget was supposedly a ‘back-to-work’ budget, with policies trailed over the past few days promising to help parents, disabled people, and the over-50s return to the workplace. In reality, though, this budget was back-to-normal for the Conservative Party – big tax cuts for some of the highest earners, and billions of taxpayer money spent subsidising big businesses. Over thirteen years of Tory austerity, chancellor after chancellor has claimed that there is no money for public services and that the country cannot afford to pay key workers more. However, somehow, today’s budget found the cash to offer tax cuts to big businesses and the highest earners. Today’s budget was also as much about what the chancellor didn’t say as what he did. Childcare The UK has the most expensive childcare in the OECD, and it is testament to the campaigning of UNISON and others that the chancellor used his budget to announce an additional £4bn investment. However, what he didn’t mention is that many nurseries already struggle to provide the free hours that parents are entitled to, and many communities suffer massive shortages of provision. Crucially, childcare doesn’t deliver itself – staff need better pay not lower staff-to-child ratios, but the chancellor said nothing about pay. Cutting staff reduces quality, not cost, and will only accelerate the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector. Tax loopholes for big business The chancellor announced a new sche...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: General Secretary's blog budget Christina McAnea cost of living Source Type: news