Proposing the amendment Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Barker said: “In the health and social care sector, the sudden imposition of these changes to national insurance, along with the increases in the minimum wage, are going to threaten the existence of large numbers of providers.”.
The heaviest defeat suffered by the Government was over a move to exempt the health and social care sector from the employers’ national insurance rise, including care homes.
He accused the Government of being “short-sighted”, because hospice care helps alleviate the problem of bed blocking in the NHS, and argued increasing employers’ national insurance would reduce their ability to help.
She was backed by fellow Liberal Democrat Baroness Kramer who warned: “We are trying to stop a disaster … The NHS does not work in isolation, it’s part of a much more holistic, complex landscape, and if you undermine the private elements of both social care and community healthcare, you undermine the NHS.”.
The upper chamber also supported steps to offset the burden of the national insurance hike on children’s nurseries and playgroups by increasing the amount they can reduce their bill by through the employment allowance.
