Call for £3bn boost to grants

Local authorities receive the grant to deliver public health services, such as drugs and alcohol services. The foundation said the grant had been reduced in real terms by £700m between 2014/15 and 2019/20.

Taking our health for granted: plugging the public health funding gap said the areas of greatest deprivation or need have not been protected from the cuts, risking greater health inequalities.

It recommended, as a minimum, that the government should reverse the real-terms cuts and invest an extra £1.3bn in the most deprived areas in 2019/20. A further £1.9bn should be allocated in phased budget increases over the following four years, adjusted for inflation.

A formula to be developed by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation should target the extra funds where most needed, the foundation added. ‘At a time of ongoing wider cuts to public services that directly impact on people’s health, and with the NHS under intense pressure, the cuts to the public health grant are short-sighted and irresponsible,’ said Jo Bibby, the foundation’s director of health. ‘The long-term consequences of eroding people’s health are likely to prove far more costly than short-term savings made.’