Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to be grilled by MPs over his Budget, as he faces questions over NHS spending and the widely criticised 1% pay rise for health workers.
Mr Sunak will give evidence to the Commons Treasury Committee on Thursday afternoon, a little over a week after he detailed his second Budget.
He is likely to be quizzed on his move to raise corporation tax from 19% to 23% from 2023 and freezing income tax thresholds as he seeks to rebuild the public finances following the coronavirus pandemic.
Committee chairman Mel Stride has also been urged to press the Chancellor on a series of “key questions” affecting the health system.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts, said Mr Sunak must “make good on his promise to meet all Covid costs” and agree the NHS’s 2021/22 budget this week.
He also called on the Chancellor to “honour at least a 2.1% pay rise for deserving NHS staff” in England.
The Government has proposed a 1% pay rise for health workers, a move that has provoked criticism after key workers’ year-long toil during the coronavirus crisis.
NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said plans set out previously had budgeted for pay to increase by 2.1% this year.
