Helen Morgan

I thank you, Sir Roger, the Minister, the shadow Minister, all my Liberal Democrat colleagues and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for coming to this debate on a very busy day. I am grateful for all their contributions, which were positive and constructive, as always. I thank the Minister in particular for her comprehensive response. It is reassuring to hear that she has considerable expertise in this area. We welcome the investment that was announced in the Budget, including significant investment in day-to-day NHS spending, capital investment and investment to deal with the repairs backlog, which needs urgent attention. We called for the Government to address the backlog in our general election campaign, because we recognise its importance. However, the very nature of the Budget statement means that we have been a bit light on detail today, and that is why we want to provide constructive opposition and ideas to move this forward. I reiterate my concerns about social care. Little was said about it today, but many social care providers are small businesses that will be heavily impacted not only by the increase in the minimum wage, which is welcome for carers, but by the increase in employer national insurance contributions. We risk a real crisis in those companies and in local government budgets, which are perilously stretched, if we do not have a plan to fund those carers and their wages. I leave the Minister with that thought, and thank everybody for attending. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered NHS readiness for winter 2024-25.