Local communities up and down the country will receive funding for family and school nurses, sexual health clinics and other public health services in their areas, through a boost of nearly £200 million in funding, announced by the government today.
As part of government plans to improve health outcomes across the country and build healthier communities, local public health services will be given more money to deliver prevention programmes, tailored to their residents. This investment is a key part of the government’s Plan for Change, shifting the focus from hospital to community and from sickness to prevention.
The funding for public health will power essential services such as smoking cessation programs, addiction recovery, family and school nurses, sexual health clinics, local health protection services and public health support for local NHS services.
Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andrew Gwynne, said: "Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS found that children are sicker today than a decade ago, and adults are falling into ill-health earlier in life. Prevention is better than cure. If we can reach people earlier and help them stay healthy, this extra investment will pay for itself several times over in reduced demand on the NHS and by keeping people in work.
"Whether it’s supporting people to quit smoking, giving children a healthy start to life, or providing addiction recovery services, this investment as part of the government’s Plan for Change will make a real difference in communities across the country. After a decade of cuts to public health, this government is committed to shifting the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is."
The government said that funding for public health grants will be increased to £3.858 billion. This investment will tackle the root causes of ill health, and build stronger, healthier communities nationwide.
Responding to the public health grant allocations to local authorities, Adam Briggs, Senior Policy Fellow at the Health Foundation, said: "Today's public health grant announcement is a welcome first step in putting prevention back at the heart of the government's agenda and one we have long called for. Investment in prevention provides significant value for money and the public health grant supports vital services that improve health and tackle health inequalities within local communities.
"The funding means an increase of 3% in real terms from 2024/25. However, we are still waiting for separate grant funding for drug and alcohol treatment to be confirmed, so we can’t yet see the full picture.
"Moreover, this allocation is still 26% smaller in real terms per person than in 2015/16. Further restoring the public health grant to 2015/16 levels in the future would help counter declines in healthy life expectancy and reduce inequalities. Over the past decade, there will have been cuts of 32% to sexual health services, 25% to drug and alcohol services and 25% for services that support 0–5-year-olds, including health visitors. Councils are also in desperate need of multi-year funding settlements instead of single-year allocations, and this announcement will leave little time for effective planning before the new financial year.
"The government placed prevention as a cornerstone of the health mission. While increasing the public health grant is very welcome, it will need to be backed up with a multi-year plan to fully restore the grant to 2015/16 levels by the end of this parliament. And for its impact to be fully realised, it should be paired with wider policy action on the building blocks of health: stable jobs, good pay, quality housing and good education."
