THERESA MAY has agreed a bumper £20billion windfall for the NHS after overruling the Chancellor.

Hospital chiefs will be handed up to an extra £5billion a year for the next four years in a 70th birthday present for the health service.

4 Theresa May will pump £20bn into the NHS after overruling Chancellor Philip Hammond Credit: AFP or licensors

The first details of the package are expected to be announced on Sunday.

Insiders told The Sun that the £20billion will be paid for by a mixture of borrowing and higher taxes.

In 2020 the Treasury intends to freeze the tax thresholds on basic and higher tax rates – which means Brits pay more.

But the Government has ruled out introducing a new ‘hypothecated’ tax such as an extra 2p on National Insurance.

4 Philip Hammond wanted to cap the health service's cash injection to two per cent Credit: AFP or licensors

The £5 billion a year adds up to an extra 3 to 4 per cent a year for the NHS.

It marks a compromise between the NHS – which demanded 5 per cent – and the Chancellor – who wanted to cap the extra cash at 2 per cent.

Speaking at conference Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said discussions over the final settlement were “difficult but ongoing”.

And he promised the health service will be asked to deliver “powerful” new targets as part of the cash bonanza.

4 Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the NHS would now be able to deliver 'powerful' targets Credit: Credit: Julian Claxton / Alamy Stock Photo

The extra cash will delight health chiefs but risk enraging over Cabinet Ministers who have been lobbying for more funding for months.

One Government insider said: “People are going to wonder why the NHS is getting special treatment when money is badly needed in areas like schools and prisons.”

Sources admitted that the funding package would mean there was “little left” for other departments such as Education or the Home Office.

And pay rises for public sector workers may now need to be funded through internal cuts rather than Treasury grants.

4 A Government insider questioned the wisdom of the PM's decision, saying the cash should have gone towards schools or prisons instead Credit: Alamy

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The Institute for Fiscal Studies last month warned the NHS will need an extra £50billion a year in 15 years’ time because people are living longer and getting bigger. That’s equivalent to £2,000 for every household in the country.

Senior Tories warned Theresa May that a new ring-fenced tax would be unacceptable for the party. One said: “We would never get this through the Commons.”

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