Facts

See the letter on the subject from Sir Robert Chote, of the UK Statistics Authority. Sir Robert warned: “As a number of commentators – including from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Full Fact – have pointed out, these calculations include a number of judgements and assumptions that others might wish to debate, including the choice of inflation adjustment, whether to include the impact of increased tax and national insurance payments by public sector workers, and whether it is appropriate to quote an average sum across all households when the impact would be felt differentially depending on household income and other factors.” 

The letter went on to say “Given the judgements and assumptions involved, it would clearly have been desirable – and in line with the Office for Statistics Regulation’s principles of intelligent transparency – for the Government to have explained clearly and accessibly how such a high-profile number had been calculated as soon as it was put into the public domain, allowing MPs and commentators to debate them in an informed way from the outset.”

For further analysis see Full Fact  

Verdict

Steve Barclay’s ‘£1,000 per household’ claim was fiction.

We emailed Steve Barclay’s office and the Department for Health and Social Care offering them the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply.