Cash-strapped NHS forced to shell out extra £635m due to the hike in business rates
Rates will increase by a third by 2021, but some hospitals and surgeries will have their charges doubled
NHS surgeries and hospitals will be forced to shell out an extra £635million over the next five years in England and Wales due to the hike in business rates.
Health trusts already struggling to plug black holes in their budgets have threatened legal action - and bosses warn the increased fees will worsen their finances even further.
Rates will rise by a third on average by 2021, but some hospitals will have their charges doubled - with Peterborough City Hospital set to see rates jump from £2.5m to £4.8m.
More than 150 trusts are threatening to mount a major test cast against a local authority unless they’re granted an exemption or rebate.
Business rates for hospitals will rise from £328m to £418m in five years, while GPs will see their costs rise from £357m to £332 over the same period.
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Sally Gainsbury, of the Nuffield Trust think tank, said: “Hospitals are currently overspending at a rate of between £150m and £250m a month. They will struggle to absorb and extra hit like this.
“When a hospital has to cut costs, it doesn’t take long before they end up having to look at their staffing numbers, at doctors and nurses.”
PM Theresa May was urged to scrap the “penal and unfair” system.
And it’s not just NHS trusts that will be hit by the crippling rates rise.
Small businesses will reportedly be hit by rises of up to 400 per cent, while online giants such as Amazon will pay lower rates for their huge warehouses.
The new rates, which will take effect in April, will see firms paying amounts calculated on the rise in property prices.
A Treasury spokesman said the retail sector as a whole would see business rates fall by 6 per cent and added: “All taxes are kept under review and any changes are announced at fiscal events.”