In January, as is often the case, the media was headlining stories about delays in A&E, cancelled operations and bed-blocking caused by lack of long-term care facilities. Coincidentally, in the middle of the month the OBR published its Fiscal Sustainability Report. This had originally been due in June last year, but its publication was put on hold after the Brexit vote.
£27 billion (again in today’s terms) in the early 2020s and in each successive decade.
To put those numbers in context, adding 1p to the basic rate of tax raises about £4.5 billion, according to HM Revenue & Customs’ ready reckoner.
The OBR numbers are projections and 50 years out the one certainty is that they will be wrong. However, the direction of travel is unlikely to change as the new state pensioners of 2067 (aged 69) have already left school. If you needed a reminder about reviewing whether your retirement provision is adequate, the OBR has supplied it.