PM PRESSED ON £26M NHS VAT BILL

PM PRESSED ON £26M NHS VAT BILL

The Prime Minister faced calls today (Wednesday) to cover the £26m
additional tax burden faced by NHS in Scotland as a result of the
increase in VAT – a tax bill which undermines claims by the coalition
government that frontline health spending is protected.

Speaking after the exchange at Prime Ministers Questions, SNP
Westminster leader Angus Robertson MP said:

“NHS budgets should be spent on frontline health services, not clawed
back by the Treasury through VAT. £26million is an significant chunk
of Health Board budgets and this tax burden will take money away from
where it is needed.

“With resources getting tighter in coming years, increasing taxes paid
by the NHS and other public bodies to the Treasury is ridiculous, and
totally exposes claims by the coalition that health spending will be
protected. The Liberal Democrats went into the election opposed to
increasing VAT, and now they are thumping the NHS with an additional
tax burden.

“It may be less than the £36million Labour planned to take from the
NHS in National Insurance, but it is still an unacceptable cost at a
difficult time.

“The SNP Government is doing everything in its power to protect
frontline public services and NHS jobs and the Treasury must take
action to protect NHS budgets from the additional tax burden.”