Ahead of the Spring Budget on 15 March, NHS Providers has submitted our representation to the Treasury setting out the details of our immediate and long-term asks to the government.

The key messages from our submission are as follows:

• The government must commit to fully funding any pay award uplift for 2023/24 above the 2% assumption already accounted for within the current NHS budget. Should additional funding for a pay uplift be found from within existing budgets, the NHS could be forced to make cuts to frontline services.
• Trust leaders would like to see the government being proactive in negotiations with trade unions regarding industrial action and come to an agreed settlement. The government must do all it can to ensure that the costs of resolving industrial action regarding 22/23 pay awards are fully met and do not lead to cuts in health or NHS budgets.
• The government must reaffirm its commitment to capital investment across the health service and ensure capital budgets are not raided to top up day-to-day spending.
• Trusts currently part of the New Hospital Programme require urgent clarity about the programme’s scope, funding and schedule.
• Government must provide funding to speed up the removal of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) from the NHS estate.
• While trusts welcomed the recently announced £200m package to assist with discharging patients out of hospital and into community and social care settings, they are concerned that this ‘crisis’ support does not offer sustainable solutions.
• Improving the health and wellbeing of our population should be a critical pillar in the government’s pursuit of economic growth.