The UK government has been asked to correct claims that spending on the NHS in England has increased since the coalition came to power, after the official statistics watchdog ruled that funding had in fact fallen.

The prime minister and other senior ministers have repeatedly claimed that in real terms NHS spending has risen since 2010. The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told the House of Commons on 23 October that “real terms spending on the NHS has increased across the country.”

The Conservative Party website also states that the government has increased the real terms NHS budget “in each of the last two …