Henry Smith MP hailed yesterday’s Autumn Statement for the announcement that the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance has been given £1.5 million.
Henry said;
“I was pleased to hear the Chancellor of the Exchequer announce that the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance will be awarded £1.5 million. Everyone in our town knows of their great work, and I hope that this will go some way to their looking out for us in Crawley and beyond.
“It is also reassuring to see that all air ambulance charity expenditure will be exempt from VAT. I am pleased that the Chancellor has acted in the interest of this important local charity.”
The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, and became the first air ambulance service in the country to operate a 24 hour Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) last September.
In the first year of its night operations, crews have attended over 430 patients, as well as about 1,400 patients by day.
Adrian Bell, Chief Executive of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust, commented;
“The Chancellor’s statement in which he granted the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust £1.5 million, is a very clear and ringing endorsement of the critical service this Charity provides to its patients, and, as support to our capital investment programme, eloquent recognition of the need to ensure the long-term resilience and sustainability of this vital emergency service funded as it is through charitable donation rather than NHS finances.
“As well as being extremely grateful to the Chancellor for this support, the Charity is also hugely appreciative of his move to exempt all Air Ambulance charity expenditure from VAT. In our case, this will release about £100,000 per year directly to frontline services rather than the Exchequer and equates to over 30 life-saving missions of the 1800 that the Charity undertakes annually.
“We still have to raise over £6m annually to provide this life-saving service but I hope our many supporters will, like me, rejoice in the fact that yet more of their generous and so gratefully received donations will support this vital cause so directly.”
Related article:
2014 Autumn Statement - Henry Smith MP claims victory on Air Passenger Duty and Stamp Duty, 3 December 2014
Follow Henry daily via:
www.twitter.com/HenrySmithMP
www.facebook.com/henrysmithmp
www.youtube.com/HenrySmithMP