The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has responded to the Labour Government’s Autumn Budget 2024, emphasising the need for robust accident prevention measures within public health, workplace, road, and home safety domains.
 

Steve Cole, Director of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at RoSPA, expressed both appreciation and concern in his reaction to the budget’s allocations, urging the government to make accident prevention a core component of its healthcare and safety strategy.

RoSPA welcomes the budget’s £22.6 billion increase to the health sector—a crucial investment to support healthcare infrastructure. Cole affirmed, "We echo the Government’s view that prevention should be at the heart of our healthcare system."

However, he raised a critical point that public safety remains overlooked. "Whilst we appreciate the government’s efforts to address economic challenges, we are concerned that once again the UK’s growing accident crisis has gone unrecognised. Public safety should be an absolute priority, and preventing accidents is much more effective than attempting to dealing with the outcomes of accidents."
 

Key points of concern:

Funding for Public Health and Safety

“We are concerned about the adequacy of funding allocated to public health and safety programmes. Whilst we recognise increased funding on hospitals and staffing is important, in the long-term, the only way to reduce costs on the NHS to reduce the burden on illness in the first place. 

Accidents are a huge and rising cost to the NHS at present, but they don’t have to happen – making the right interventions can substantially reduce the burden of accidental injuries on the healthcare system. Government needs to invest in accident prevention now to reduce the future demand on the NHS and costs to the taxpayer.” 
 

Workplace Safety 

“We urge the government to make workplace safety a priority by increasing funding for occupational health and safety programmes. Accidents can prevent people from working, so we would like to see the government’s plans to ‘Get Britain Working’. Ensuring safe working conditions is not only a moral obligation but also economically beneficial, as it reduces the costs associated with workplace injuries and illnesses. 

“The Health and Safety Executive has faced a real terms funding cut of 45 per cent since 2009/10 and its funding must be ring-fenced from further cuts as part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)’s overall budget cut. Strengthening workplace safety aligns directly with the principles set out in the recent Employment Rights Bill. Improving worker rights must go together with strengthening workplace safety standards, as one cannot be achieved without the other. Keeping the UK’s workforce safe is economic common sense.”
 

Road Safety 

“Investment in road safety measures is critical to reducing the number of road traffic accidents. We welcome the £500 million increase to the road maintenance budget and the commitment to fix 1 million potholes, but more is needed to make roads safer. Enhanced funding for road safety campaigns, infrastructure improvements, and enforcement of traffic laws are essential to protect all road users.” 
 

Home and Leisure Safety

“We hope that the 10 per cent increase to the Department for Business and Trade settlement trickles down to the Office for Product Safety and Standards. At RoSPA we continue to educate the public on the risks posed by unsafe products, so an effective, well-resourced regulator for product safety is essential. Although much of the £1.3BN additional grant funding for local authorities has been earmarked for homelessness and social care, we believe that more funding should be directed to trading standards, to keep the public safe from unsafe goods.” 
 

Call for action

RoSPA remains committed to partnering with government and other stakeholders to push for policies and investments that prioritise accident prevention across society. Cole concludes, "We believe that a safer society is a healthier and more prosperous one. As the foundations are fixed, it will be imperative to keep the public safe through a preventative agenda while change is delivered.”
 

Steve Cole is RoSPA's Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs Director, with over 20 years' experience in the private, public and voluntary sector.