Responding to the Chancellor’s mini-budget, Dr Katerina Kolyva, Chief Executive of the Council of Deans of Health, said:
‘The wide-ranging mini-budget will have implications for all of us and our members have followed it with interest.
The Council does not take a fiscal position, it is clear that some of the tax cuts can benefit our members but we will also always advocate for appropriate public spending that supports our students, healthcare educators and the NHS. The removal of the Health and Social Care Levy and the funding it would raise being replaced with borrowing poses questions on how sustainable this will be. It will also be interesting to see if the levelling up investment zone agenda will have positive implications for universities within the designated areas.
Long term economic and healthcare sustainability requires long term planning. Along with the right funding for education and research I encourage the Government to think about better regulation, improved join-up between departments and genuine consultation with healthcare educators on how we deliver the future workforce Britain needs’.