Lincolnshire MP says year-long silence over air ambulance funding is 'shameful'
A year on, MPs still await answers from the government over NI changes that could cost the air ambulance £70,000
A Lincolnshire MP has said it’s “shameful” that the government hasn’t responded to questions over the Lincs and Notts air ambulance for an entire year.
Concerns were raised last year that the national insurance increase would leave the service £70,000 worse off.
The air ambulance, which operates 365 days a year, doesn’t receive any money from the government or NHS, and relies on contributions.
A group of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire MPs wrote to the Treasury after the 2024 Autumn Budget to ask for charities like the LNAA to be made exempt from the rise.
Sleaford and Hykeham MP Dr Caroline Johnson says they still haven’t received a response.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, she said: “Shamefully, despite the matter being chased repeatedly by my office, by our raising it in the House repeatedly and by raising it with members of the Procedure Committee, we have still had no reply.
“The government have shown huge disrespect for this House and for people right across Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.”
The Deputy Speaker Nusrat Ghani responded: “Government departments must reply promptly to questions and one whole year is very shameful indeed.”
She suggested Dr Johnson refer the matter to the procedure committee.
A government spokesperson said: “We support our charities through one of the world’s most generous tax regimes for the sector which provided £6bn in relief for the sector last year alone, including exemptions from paying business rates.
“This comes on top of removing barriers to support philanthropy, doubling the Employment Allowance to protect the smallest charities and creating a new Civil Society Covenant to usher in a new era of trust and partnership to tackle some of the country’s biggest challenges.”
The air ambulance costs approximately £13million per year to run, with an average of four potentially life-saving flights per day – each costing £4,000.
The original letter was signed by the MPs for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), Sleaford (Dr Caroline Johnson), Newark (Robert Jenrick), Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), South Holland and the Deepings (Sir John Hayes), Grantham (Gareth Davies), Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns) and Skegness (Richard Tice).
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is laying out new plans for the economy in her Budget statement today, Wednesday, November 26.