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Cut in condom tax welcome, but greater protection needed to secure sexual health services - Burstow
May 22, 2006 9:55 AM
Local Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow has welcomed Gordon Brown's decision to slash the VAT on condoms and other contraceptives in his Budget announced last week.
The Budget statement issued by the Chancellor comes just weeks after the Sutton and Cheam MP tabled a question asking what plans the Treasury had to reduce the VAT on condoms from 17.5 per cent to just 5 per cent.
Pleased with the precedence given to sexual health, the MP for Sutton and Cheam nevertheless remained cautious in the light of the Chancellor's failure to address the financial problems that continue to afflict the NHS.
Mr Burstow said:
"The Chancellor should be applauded for reducing the VAT on contraceptives. The otherwise high price of condoms can be a real disincentive for people to practice safer sex, and this decision will go some way in reducing the UK's high number of unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections.
"Gordon Brown has however ignored the broader picture of a chronic cash crisis within the NHS and I fear that the money allocated to front-line sexual health services by the Choosing Health White Paper, will instead be diverted to plug escalating deficits within local Strategic Health Authority budgets.
"Investing properly in sexual health services will save the NHS millions of pounds each year. Along with my Liberal Democrat colleagues, I will be continuing to urge the Government to produce a more coherent, properly funded sexual health service delivery plan both here at a local level, and across the country."
ENDS
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