Liberal Democrat Manifesto Key Points
Health:
• Investing in 8,000 new doctors, so everyone can see their GP within seven days, or 24 hours if it’s urgent.
• Everyone with a long-term health condition will receive access to a named GP.
• Guaranteeing NHS dentist access for anyone needing urgent or emergency care.
• Introducing mental health check-ups at key life stages.
• Creating a patients charter to harness lived experiences and embed patient voice, partnership and safety standards across health and care settings.
• Improve faster access to new and novel medicines and medical devices through agreement with the European Medicines Agency.
Economy:
• Cost of living support in terms of energy bills, food prices and mortgages.
• Tax cuts when public finances allow, raising the tax-free personal allowance.
Business and jobs:
• Empowering more people to enter the job market, such as parents, carers and disabled people.
• Support science, research and innovation, particularly among small businesses and startups, in universities and in zero-carbon, environmental and medical technologies, including by:
o Continuing to participate in Horizon Europe and joining the European Innovation Council.
o Aiming for at least 3% of GDP to be invested in r&d by 2030, rising to 3.5% by 2034.
• Reforms to the statutory sick pay system, making it available at a lower threshold and from day one rather than day four, and aligning with NMW.
Climate and energy:
• Pass a Clean Air Act for tackling air pollution.
• Wide-ranging climate change and energy measures, including investing in renewable energy and establishing local and national citizens’ assemblies to give people real involvement in decision-making around climate change.
Care:
• Create a social care workforce plan, and introduce a higher Carer’s Minimum Wage (increased by £2 an hour).
• Give unpaid carers paid carer’s leave and a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks.
• Trial personal health and social care budgets.
• Increasing transparency and accountability over how LAs spend money.
• Establish a National Care Agency to set minimum standards.
Education:
• More specialist teachers and mental health professionals in schools.
Pensions and safety net:
• Increasing Carer’s Allowance and expanding eligibility for it.
• Give disabled people and organisations representing them a stronger voice in the design of benefits policy and processes.
• Reforming PIP assessments to make the process more transparent, stop unnecessary reassessments, and end informal assessments.
Transport:
• Boost bus services so that routes can be restored or added where there is local need.
• Maintain a cap on fares while they are reviewed.
Rights and equality:
• Give every disabled person the right to work from home if they want to, unless there are significant business reasons why this is not possible.
• Implementing a targeted strategy to support disabled people into work, with specialist employment support.
• Raising employer awareness of the Access to Work scheme.
• Introducing Adjustment Passports to record the adjustments, modifications and equipment a disabled person has received.