South Devon MP Caroline Voaden has said the lack of discussion around social care was a “gaping hole” in the chancellor’s budget.

Speaking in the House of Commons during the recent budget debate, Ms Voaden said: “The lack of discussion around social care is (also) a gaping hole. Liberal Democrats have been calling loudly for a cross-party conversation on social care.”

According to her party, the introduction of free personal care “could deliver annual savings to the NHS of up to £3.3bn by 2031”, she added.

“It was distressing to hear local care providers, already stretched to breaking point, saying that the additional employers’ NI they’ll have to pay could signal the death knell for some employers – absolutely the opposite of what the sector and the country needs,” she said.

Ms Voaden also shared concerns about the lack of tax relief offered by chancellor Rachel Reeves to hospitality and tourism businesses.

In her budget statement, the chancellor announced that the rates relief offered to companies in these sectors would drop from 75 per cent to 40 per cent, a move the MP said would increase the burden on small and medium-sized businesses, describing them as “the engines of our economy and the lifeblood of our communities”.

She said there were “much fairer ways” of raising revenue than “hitting” small businesses, and called for a reversal of the Conservatives’ tax cuts for banks, or for social media giants or oil and gas companies to pay more.