Summary

  • Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay says it was a "difficult decision" to delay changes to how people pay for their care

  • The government has put off bringing in an £86,000 cap on costs for another two years

  • Barclay says that tackling delays in discharging patients is a priority

  • Labour's Jonathan Ashworth blames 12 years of Conservative government for the problems with health and social care in England

  1. What’s been the reaction to the Autumn Statement?published at 08:40 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022

    People walking in the rainImage source, EPA

    While some of Jeremy Hunt’s planned economic measures were briefed out to reporters prior to Thursday’s announcement, those looking for the detail only got the full scope of his plan once he’d sat down in the House of Commons.

    Labour said the chancellor’s statement was "an invoice for the economic carnage" created by Liz Truss's mini-budget back in September. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said Mr Hunt had "picked the pockets" of the entire country with "stealth taxes".

    The Liberal Democrats described the Autumn Statement as a "cost-of-chaos budget", with everyone "being forced to pay the price for this Conservative government's incompetence".

    The Scottish National Party tweeted that, external "Scotland is paying the price for a Brexit it never voted for and an austerity agenda it rejected”.

    Federation of Small Businesses chairman Martin McTague said that while tackling inflation “is essential”, he called for measures “to create conditions for prosperity, growth and support enterprise” and described the statement as a “missed opportunity”.

    Ratings agency Moodys - which assesses how credit-worthy countries and businesses are - said the measures showed the UK is committed to fiscal prudence, but warned "the polarised domestic political environment and heightened policy unpredictability may undermine efforts to deliver on fiscal consolidation”.

    Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O’Grady said everyone was “paying the price for the last decade of Tory governments, which decimated growth and living standards".

  2. The Autumn Statement - what it means for youpublished at 08:30 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022

    Jeremy HuntImage source, Reuters

    If you’re still digesting the details of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement from last Thursday, we’ve got an at-a-glance for you which distils the main measures into key points.

    We’ve broken Mr Hunt’s announcements down into these areas:

    • Taxation and wages
    • Energy
    • Economy and public finances
    • Government spending
    • Business and infrastructure
    • Other measures - including vehicle duty and a cap on social rents

    Find all the details here.

  3. Who’s on this week’s panel?published at 08:19 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022

    (l-r) Tony Danker; Chloe Morgan; Gary SmithImage source, Reuters/Getty Images/PA Media

    Listening to the interviews on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg are the panel who’ll offer their analysis of what they’ve heard.

    This week we’ll hear from Tony Danker who is director general of business group the Confederation of British Industry. Danker joined the CBI in November 2020 having had a career in business, media and the government. The CBI speaks for many large UK firms and lobbies the government to create policies which it believes will help the British economy be healthier, greener and more innovative.

    Also on is Gary Smith who leads the GMB trade union. Smith became general secretary of the union last year having joined as a 16-year-old apprentice gas worker. The Scot has led the union's campaign to see the national living wage increased to £15 an hour and has also spoken of his scepticism about the transition to renewable sources of energy.

    And with the football World Cup kicking off in Qatar later we’ll hear from former professional player Chloe Morgan. Morgan combined a playing career with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace while working as a personal injury lawyer. She campaigns for LGBT and ethnic minority communities in sport and the law and is currently an ambassador for London side Palace.

  4. This week’s guestspublished at 08:10 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022

    (l-r) Steve Barclay; Jonathan Ashworth; Howard Hu (C)Image source, PA/Getty Images/Nasa
    Image caption,

    From left, Steve Barclay; Jonathan Ashworth; Howard Hu

    Following on from last Thursday’s Autumn Statement, we’ll be hearing from the government’s health and social care secretary for England, Steve Barclay.

    Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week promised an extra £3.3bn will be pumped into the NHS in England - on top of the increased funding pledged in the five-year plan put in place by Theresa May when she was prime minister.

    But with continuing concerns over waiting lists, treatment backlogs and patients being left waiting in ambulances, are the NHS’ problems down to money - or lack of staff?

    Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth - the shadow work and pensions secretary - will respond to the government’s plans for benefits and employment. We know that welfare payments and pensions are going up in line with the current high rate of inflation, but ministers also want to get more people off benefits and into employment. Included in the Autumn Statement was a plan to get more claimants to see work coaches from next September. Do Labour think that’s a good idea?

    And we’ll hear from Nasa’s Howard Hu about the Artemis programme which aims to put humans back on the Moon during this decade. Hu’s in charge of the Orion spacecraft - the very top of the Artemis rocket - which carries the astronauts to the Moon and return them to Earth.

    All that, plus the thoughts and analysis of this week’s panel is coming up at 9am today.

  5. Good morningpublished at 07:59 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022

    Laura Kuenssberg

    Thank you for joining us this morning for continuing live coverage of BBC News’ flagship political interview programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

    This week the programme is heading into space with guest Howard Hu, who leads the Orion project as part of Nasa’s Artemis missions to put humans back on the Moon.

    Hu is in charge of the spacecraft which sits on top of the giant rocket which blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida last week for the first time.

    Also on the show is Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay. Expect him to face questions about the extra cash for the NHS in England promised by the chancellor in last week’s autumn statement.

    We’ll also hear from shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth - where does he stand on Jeremy Hunt’s decision to increase benefits by inflation and maintain the so-called “triple lock” on state pensions?

    Don’t forget you can watch Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg live without leaving this page from 09:00 GMT.