Static public health funding will increase pressure on local government

The government has not increased the annual pot of cash it gives to local authorities to carry out its ambitious public health programme in England, prompting concerns that this will only add to the financial pressures faced by local councils, amid swingeing cuts to their core budgets.1

Last week the Department of Health pledged a global ringfenced sum of £2.8bn (€3.6bn; $4.4bn) for public health for 2015-16, with an additional £5bn in incentives (the “health premium”) to be shared out among those councils that met designated public health improvement targets in 2014-15. The grant excludes the cost of councils taking on public health responsibility from October 2015 for children aged up to 5 years. A separate allocation has been made for this.

After some financial adjustments 18 local authorities will get less than last year, with Warwickshire the biggest loser at £2333 less per …