Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced a number of measures to be implemented as part of the ‘mini-budget’ held to help tackle the cost of living crisis.

The headline announcements are:

• A cut in income tax to 19% from April 2023
• The reversal of the recent rise in NI tax from 6 November 2022
• The scrapping of a planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% 
• A tightening of rules around universal credit
• A stamp duty cut for properties costing less than £250,000, rising to £425,000 for first time buyers
• The removal of the cap on bankers’ bonuses
• VAT-free shopping for visitors from overseas
• The cancelling of increases on alcohol 
• The unveiling of new, low-tax investment zones

Commenting on how this might affect dental professionals, as well as those within the wider healthcare sector, Iain Stevenson, Head of Dental at Wesleyan Group, says: “Small businesses have needed help with running costs and dentists are no exception. Many practices are facing increasing costs due to the cost-of-living crisis, coupled with retention and pay increase considerations for staff, which are resulting in growing pressure on the bottom line.

“Measures such as cutting National Insurance and Corporation Tax alongside the business energy relief scheme will go some way to help address challenges. The new investment zones may create opportunities for dentists looking to expand their practices or start their own businesses.

“There was also a welcome development of making permanent the temporary £1 million level of the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), which was due to expire after 31 March 2023. This is good news for dentists investing in their practices – whether that’s upgrading airflow equipment to maximise surgery capacity, or investing in surgical equipment – and will help make tax simpler for them.

“When it comes to personal finances, we know that dentists themselves are struggling with rising costs. The reversal of the National Insurance increase will see small increases in take home pay, but more help is needed to ensure dentists can cover their living expenses.  We know that some are reducing their contributions to their pension or even withdrawing funds from savings to cover costs. This can have serious long-term implications and should be carefully considered and ideally done with financial advice.”

“With this fiscal statement, the Conservatives wanted to encourage a new period of growth and prosperity in order to make modern Britain more globally competitive,” explains Richard T Lishman, Managing Director of the 4dentists Group of companies. “As part of this, the treasury stated a rather optimistic goal of achieving 2.5% growth – a figure that seems all the more unlikely considering most experts believe that recession is imminent.

“The question on everyone’s lips for some time now has been what can be done about rising energy bills. It comes as no surprise that the Chancellor opened his statement speaking on this issue, not only promising the household unit limit price, but also extending this to businesses via the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. Under this plan, it’s thought that the average UK household bill will come in at around £2,500, with further relief available for vulnerable households. The Chancellor estimated that this measure would cost £60 billion – a figure that will be borrowed by the government instead of sourced from the energy giants. As such, this unit limit price is likely to be just a short-term relief, but one which means we can experience more sensible energy prices for the next two years compared to the ones that were previously forecasted.

“The core of the mini budget was formed of tax cuts. For starters, the government has decided to reduce the basic rate of income tax by 1p in every pound – a measure that was originally outlined by Ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Spring Budget earlier this year. This has now been brought forward to April 2023, with an estimated reduction in tax equivalent to £170 per year.

“High earners will also benefit from a cut to Income Tax. The Chancellor has abolished the 45% additional rate of tax, meaning that the top rate is now 40% and applies to anyone earning over £50,270. This will mean that high-earning dentists should benefit from a nice tax cut if they are earning over £150,000 a year. It is worth remembering, however, that these new rates do not apply to Scotland, where basic rate is 21% and the additional rate remains at 46%.

“The previously proposed stamp duty holiday has now been turned into a permanent cut in stamp duty. It will only be applied to properties costing in excess of £250,000 , with first time buyers benefitting further with no stamp duty on the first £425,000 of a property price. They can also benefit from discounted rates on the first £625,000 – up from the previous £500,000. This means that any dentists seeking their first property or a new home will end up paying less on stamp duty, though whether this benefit is outweighed by the general huge increase in property prices is yet to be seen.

“Though we knew it was coming, the reversal of increased National Insurance rates was welcome, especially as this measure will, on average, save people £330 a year. This change will benefit higher earners more, as they will save more over time compared to low-income individuals, so most dentists should experience a tidy saving.

“Though unlikely to impact the majority of dental professionals, any staff who receive benefits and only work a small number of hours could see their benefits cut in order to encourage them to seek more hours, and better paid work. This may mean that if you have a dental nurse, for example, who only works one day a week but also receives benefits, they may ask for more hours or try to find employment elsewhere – definitely something to bear in mind.

“Ultimately, though this is just a mini budget, there are some exciting benefits on offer for high-earning individuals. The Conservatives have heavily leaned into the idea of trickle-down economics, and by removing caps to bankers’ bonuses and making the biggest tax cuts for those already wealthy, they are hoping that this will encourage the growth and investment that they are aiming for.

“Especially with a mini budget that is separate from the bigger, formal announcements in autumn and spring, the impact of these measures in action and whether some of these steps will even be implemented, will depend on how the UK economy continues to perform. April 2023 sounds close, but there is plenty of time for the measures proposed in this fiscal statement to be rescinded or amended.

“Until then, we can enjoy tax cuts, worry slightly less about energy bills and indulge in a glass of wine or beer at a cheaper price (the planned duty rates for alcoholic beverages have been cancelled) – so there are definitely some positives here.”

NHS dentistry reforms may be on the way, but according to the BBC, “patients face ‘unprecedented’ difficulties”. The broadcasting corporation’s research, published today, found that “nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK are not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the health service” and that “no dentists taking on adult NHS patients could be found in a third of the UK’s top-tier councils”.

In addition, the extensive report found that:

• Eight out of 10 NHS practices are not taking on children
• The problem is worse in the south-west of England, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West, where 98% of practices are not accepting new adult NHS patients
• Access is currently best in London, as almost a quarter of practices were accepting new adult NHS patients when the BBC was carrying out its investigation
• One in 10 local authorities do not have any practices taking on under-16s for NHS treatment even though children in full-time education being entitled to completely free care on the health service
• Approximately 200 practices said they would take on a child under the NHS only if a parent signed up as a private patient
• Scotland has significantly better access to NHS dentistry for adults than the other UK nations, with 18% of practices taking on new health-service patients
• Wales, England and Northern Ireland, meanwhile, have similar rates of access, at 7%, 9% and 10% respectively

The British Dental Association echoed its sentiments that NHS dentistry was at a “tipping point” after a decade of under-investment.

“Access to NHS dentistry has been a problem ever since the health service was created. Free treatment ended in 1951, just three years after the NHS was formed, because it was deemed unaffordable,” said BBC Health Correspondent Nick Triggle. “Ever since, a subsidised system – where some patients pay towards the cost – has been in place.”

Nick Triggle continued to list the strong private dental market, “unpopular” NHS contract, austerity and the Covid-19 pandemic backlog as combining to cause more dentists to walk away from the service. “The numbers doing NHS work dropped by 10% last year,” he added. “It’s fair to say the difficulties patients are facing are unprecedented.”

Read the full BBC report, Full extent of NHS dentistry shortage revealed by far-reaching BBC research, by Ruth Green, Harriet Agerholm & Libby Rogers, here.