Lib Dems to reverse £800m cut to community healthcare budgets to avoid “ticking time bomb” for NHS
EMBARGO: Immediate Release
The Liberal Democrats will set out plans at their Autumn Conference to reverse savage Conservative cuts to local public health grants, as part of a shift to empowering local communities to tackle the root causes of ill health.
The Conservative government has slashed spending on public health grants by around a fifth since 2015, amounting to real-terms cuts of almost £800m. This has meant cuts to vital schemes that promote better health, including reducing smoking, improving children’s health and providing sexual health or drugs and alcohol services.
Analysis by the House of Commons Library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that in the worst hit areas, local public health funding per head has been slashed by a third since 2015. The party’s health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said it “made a mockery of levelling up” for the government to be slashing funding to tackle health inequality, warning that it risked creating a “ticking time bomb” for the NHS.
Tower Hamlets has seen its public health grant slashed by 33% per head since 2015/16, more than anywhere else in the country. Other areas with the biggest cuts per person include Camden (32%), Coventry (30%), Westminster (30%) and Rutland (27%). Areas that have had biggest total cuts to their public health grant include Birmingham, which saw a £22m real-terms cut, Lancashire and Kent with over £16m each and Essex with over £15m.
The Liberal Democrats will this week pledge to progressively reinstate the public health grant to 2015 levels, with a proportion of these funds be set aside for local communities experiencing the worst health inequalities to co-produce plans on how the money should be spent. This forms part of a package of measures to improve community healthcare including better access to blood pressure tests in local pharmacies and libraries and designating local authority swimming pools as “critical health infrastructure.”
The Liberal Democrats said a new “invest to save” approach was needed to health care that empowers individuals to improve their own health, reduces pressure on NHS services and ensures taxpayers’ money is spent effectively. According to one study for every £1 spent on public health interventions, £14 is returned to the wider economy.
Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
“Conservative cuts to local community health grants have created a ticking time bomb of ill health that could overwhelm our NHS. Vital schemes to help reduce smoking, tackle obesity, improve children's health and address drug and alcohol abuse have all been slashed to the bone.
“To make matters worse, some of our most deprived communities with the worst health inequalities have seen the largest cuts to public health funding per person. It makes a mockery of the government’s levelling up agenda that Conservative cuts have led to a levelling down on public health.
“The Liberal Democrats would reverse these short-sighted cuts and invest in empowering local communities and individuals to lead healthier lives. It is time that the government recognised that it is far cheaper to prevent ill health than to treat it.”
ENDS
Notes to Editor
Commons Library analysis on cuts to Public Health Grant funding per person is available here.
Study referenced - Every £1 spent on public health interventions, £14 is returned to the wider economy.