NHS Grampian faces a £20 million cost to cover the UK government’s rise in employers’ National Insurance, the P&J can reveal.
It’s understood the tax rise would set the health board back an extra £20m in 2025-26, with the Scottish government holding talks on the exact level of support it can provide.
But the extra costs are likely to rise in line with an increase in staff pay deals.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison said she aimed to cover 60% of the reported costs for directly employed staff across the public sector but this still leaves a shortfall.
It comes at a time of significant financial pressure on the health board.
A new report, published last week, warns NHS Grampian faces a deficit of £140m in the next financial year before savings have been identified.
It states that the scale of savings requires “significant system transformation and change”, which will not be deliverable within a single financial year.
Labour’s tax plans
Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last year that the rate of employer National Insurance contributions is to increase from 13.8% to 15% in April.
The threshold at which employers have to start paying the contributions is also being lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.
NHS Grampian is understood to be the largest employer in the north-east region, with around 17,500 staff.
For context, £20m would cover staffing 40 acute beds in the north-east for a year.
It would also be the equivalent cost of more than 89,000 MRI scans or pay the wages of more than 400 band six nurses for a year.
The total extra bill facing Scottish health boards is expected to be around £191m, before additional financial support from the SNP government is factored in.
North East Conservative MSP Tess White described the Labour government’s decision to increase the tax as “completely short-sighted”.
She added: “This reckless jobs tax will make the health board’s crisis even worse, when people are already facing terrifying waits for treatment across the north-east.”
Discussions ‘ongoing’, says SNP government
A spokesman for Health Secretary Neil Gray said there are “ongoing discussions” on the impact of additional employers contributions which were “imposed without consultation by the UK Government, and the level of support that can be provided”.
He added: “In order to provide some certainty for public services the finance secretary has announced our intention to cover 60% of the estimated cost of directly employed staff.
“This still leaves a shortfall, because the UK Government has not covered the full cost for directly employed staff, never mind contractors like GPs and social care providers.
“So we will continue to press the UK Chancellor to fully fund the costs of this Labour tax rise that will harm public services in Scotland.”
An NHS Grampian spokesman said: “As reported at our board meeting last week, we are facing a significant financial challenge in the coming months and years.
“Savings options are being examined as we look to find the required balance between finance, clinical and workforce governance.
“Some options already examined have been dismissed as they were assessed to have a direct impact on the delivery of patient care.”
A UK Treasury spokesman said the autumn budget delivered “more money than ever before” for Scottish public services.
He added: “It is for the Scottish Government to allocate this across its own public sector and meet the priorities of people in Scotland.
“It will also receive additional Barnett funding on top of this record £47.7 billion settlement as part of support provided in relation to changes to Employer National Insurance.”
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