Head Teachers march to Downing Street

On Friday 28 September 1,000 Head Teachers marched to Downing Street seeking more funding for schools – staff shortages and class sizes are two of the key issues. Somerset County Council has just signed off major cuts to services including highways and social care (£13m this year alone, £15m next year). Police forces have also been very vocal about funding pressures.

The Economist variously reports on the challenges of properly funding many of the UK’s core services. Health, social care, education, councils, housing, police and prisons have all been considered in recent months – the challenges are daunting.

In 2017-18 tax revenues were £769bn, expenditure was £809bn. The reality is that we don’t generate enough funds from existing methods and sources, so additional solutions need to be found if the public are to see meaningful improvements in these key areas.

In respect of health, The Times leading article of 18 June stated that the additional money announced by Theresa May for the NHS “will relieve the immediate crisis, but the breathing space must be used to look at better funding models. Nothing should be ruled out”.

The creation of Health Mutual would enable established taxation methods to be used for other equally pressing issues. Other countries successfully operate mixed funding models and consequently have better funded health systems, as illustrated on The Perfect Health System page. A UK-style top-up, as envisaged by the Health Mutual solution, could be similarly effective.