The King's Fund responds to the King's Speech

Responding to the King's Speech, Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive at The King’s Fund, said: 

‘A central theme of the new Labour government’s first legislative programme is unlocking economic growth, and a strong economy is inextricably linked with a healthy population, supported by a strong health and care sector. 

‘Introducing landmark legislation to deliver a phased ban on the sale of tobacco products would be one of the most consequential and far-reaching decisions made by this parliament, bringing about long-lasting benefits for the health of the nation. Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death in England and also imposes significant costs on our economy and pressure on health and care services. The phased ban would save many thousands of lives and reduce health inequalities.  

‘It is also encouraging to see the inclusion of other interventions to help keep children healthy, including reviving existing measures to restrict the advertising of junk food to children and ban them from buying high caffeine drinks. Our own polling shows that 65% of people support restrictions on junk food advertising compared with only 15% who oppose restrictions. 

‘We welcome the priority given to delivering long overdue reforms to the Mental Health Act. A society can be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable, and these carefully considered reforms will mean people who find themselves detained under the Act can have greater confidence that the restrictions they face are proportionate and applied with dignity and respect. 

‘The planned Employment Rights Bill will contain measures to increase adult social care wages through nationally set ‘fair pay’ terms and conditions, plus the scrapping of exploitative zero hours contracts. There are approximately 152,000 vacancies in the social care sector and pay is undoubtedly a big factor in care providers’ ability to recruit and retain staff. The government’s plan to increase adult social care pay is good news for care workers, and we hope it will come with a commensurate rise in local government budgets to avoid the pay boost being funded by cuts elsewhere. 

‘While boosting the workforce would address one of the many issues facing social care, more fundamental reform of the sector is still needed. The social care system in England is not fit for purpose and the new government now has the opportunity to create a nation where people’s care needs are properly met. We hope to see more on their plans to reform adult social care soon. 

‘Many of the other laws announced in today’s King’s Speech will also have an impact on people’s health. Improving the nation’s health depends on a wide range of measures in areas such as housing, the environment and employment. Cross-government action will be needed to achieve Labour’s stated aim of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England.’ 

Notes to editors

For further information, or to request an interview, please contact the Press and Public Affairs team on 020 7307 2585. 

The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. We help to shape policy and practice through research and analysis; develop individuals, teams and organisations; promote understanding of the health and social care system; and bring people together to learn, share knowledge and debate. Our vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.