A coalition of 60 cross-party MPs are backing a radical plan to rescue the care sector from planned NI rises. Box Power CIC, a not-for-profit energy consultancy, which funds several hospices nationwide, is urging the Chancellor to adopt their policy for an alternative funding mechanism which would allow care to be exempt from their tax rises.

CEO Corin and COO Tricia Dalby policy would see banks keep 1% of their money deposited with the Bank of England in accounts that don’t earn interest. This change could save the UK government about £1.3 billion a year in interest payments (New Economics Foundation).

Box Power would see these savings ringfenced for the care sector, offsetting the costs of planned NI hikes set to come into effect this April.

Leading figures backing the policy include Sir Ian Duncan Smith MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, and Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Esther McVey MP, and John McDonnell MP.

The policy move, gaining traction with key industry and political leaders, comes as research from the Nuffield Trust indicates planned NI increases will cost adult social care alone over £900 million per annum. A cost few providers can afford without a reduction in their frontline services.

The Care Provider Alliance has found without immediate government support, 1 in 5 care providers may shut their doors this year, while 77% will have to dip into their cash reserves just to get by.

Corin Dalby, CEO of Box Power CIC, says: “In light of the current funding crisis, we’re requesting the Chancellor Rachel Reeves adopt this policy to provide some immediate relief to the care sector. While NHS trusts have been protected from NI rises – their providers in social care and other facilities have been left to fend for themselves.”

Stephen Trowbridge MBE, First City Care Group, adds: “This is a direct attack on social care—and we will not stay silent. If the government refuses to explore this, they are actively choosing to let the care sector fail.”

Mark Lloyd, Managing Director of RMBI Care Company – which provides elderly residential and nursing care, said: “Now with an added NI increase, providers are being pushed over the edge. The government must act now.”

Box Power CEO Corin Dalby is urging the Chancellor to adopt their policy. Drawing inspiration from similar moves made the European Central Bank, the policy once replicated in the UK would generate enough government savings to exempt the entire care sector from NI rises without raising taxes or introducing spending cuts.

Corin adds: “This policy isn’t about politics; it’s about people and a sector that’s on its knees. It’s only fair we ask banks to step up when they’re raking in record profits.”

Rachel Reeve’s recent pledges to reduce banking regulation and roll back protections have only continued to fuel concerns. The Chancellor’s removal of “overcooked” regulations like banker fee deferrals, reductions in the City’s reporting burden, and delays to Basel 3.1 has signalled an approval from HMT for big banks to increase their risk taking.

Box Power’s backers such as Mark Jarman-Howe, Chief Executive of St Helena Hospice, has described the situation as dire: “Hospices are being crippled by rising employment costs.  This is a travesty, we need a long-term funding solution, but in the short term, this policy could provide the immediate relief we so desperately need.”

The simplicity of Box Power’s policy to exempt care providers from planned NI increases means it could be implemented tomorrow – with the Chancellor not even requiring a vote in the Commons.