MiP chief executive Jon Restell commented on the measures announced in the 2021 Budget:

“Our members will welcome measures to protect the economy and help people, particularly younger people, get and keep jobs. The NHS and social care form the largest employer in most areas of the country. The NHS has huge staff shortages. There is an opportunity here to leverage the size of the NHS and its need for skilled workers.

“The Chancellor has again failed to give social care the funding it desperately needs. The ravages of Covid have exposed the historic underinvestment in the sector’s staff and infrastructure. Social care reform is one of our members’ top priorities.

“Disappointingly, there is no investment plan for the recovery of the NHS or the recruitment and retention of NHS staff, two critical national issues. Nor does the Budget have anything practical to say about the transformation of the workplace brought about by the pandemic.

“NHS staff across the board deserve a pay rise, and the Chancellor has sidestepped giving our members a pay rise once again. A wage increase would not only boost morale, it would also provide a vital boost to the economy.”