The Liberal Democrats will today (2nd June) commit to reversing
Conservative cuts to the Public Health Grant which funds vital
health checks for infants, children, mothers, working age adults
and pensioners.
It forms the second major pillar of the party's plan to fix the
health and care crisis, following proposals announced last week
to boost GP numbers by 8,000 and give people the legal right to
see a GP within seven days.
The party warned that major cuts to the Public Health Grant since
2015 have created a “ticking time bomb” for the NHS, as funding
for local authorities to tackle long-term causes of ill health is
slashed.
In Lincolnshire - home to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins' seat
of Louth and Horncastle - the Public Health Grant has been
slashed by £7.6 million since 2015. In North Yorkshire, home of
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's seat, the Public Health Grant has
been cut by £5 million.
The Liberal Democrats' manifesto will pledge to reverse cuts to
the Public Health Grant with £1 billion of investment per year,
paid for by a crackdown on tax evasion. The increase in funding
will also reverse the 28% real-terms cuts to the Public Health
Grant to local authorities since 2015, providing millions of
people with vital programmes.
The Liberal Democrats said a new “invest to save” approach was
needed to healthcare that empowers communities to improve their
own health, reduces pressure on NHS services and ensures
taxpayers' money is spent effectively on prevention programmes to
help prevent people from becoming ill in the first place.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader , commented:
“The Conservative Party has decimated public health funding,
leaving Britain with a ticking time bomb of health
challenges.
“The public health crisis in our country has Rishi Sunak's
fingerprints all over it. He has slashed funding for vital local
services that support children, failed to fix our crumbling
hospitals and overseen a stark rise in health inequality.
“The Liberal Democrats would reverse these scandalous cuts and
invest in empowering local communities and individuals to lead
healthier lives. It is time to recognise that it is far cheaper
to prevent ill health than to treat it.”
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
The Public Health Grant provides local authorities with funding
which can be used for projects that improve public health
including for children.
According to the Health Foundation, there has been a 28%
real-terms per person cut in the value of the Public Health Grant
since 2015/16. The Health Foundation estimates that restoring the
Public Health Grant to its 2015/16 real-terms per person value
would require an additional £1bn in 2023/24 price terms in
2024/25. (Source: Health Foundation)
The Liberal Democrat manifesto will commit to reversing this £1
billion of cuts to the Public Health Grant and restore it to
2015/16 levels in real terms.
The funding increase will be paid for by a crackdown on tax
evasion. Under the Conservatives, the amount of taxes going
uncollected for reasons including avoidance, evasion and criminal
activity has reached £35.8bn a year [HMRC]. The Liberal
Democrats would recover more of that money through significant
investment in HMRC.
A recent study found that of every £1 spent on public health
interventions, £14 is returned to the wider economy.
(Source: Journal of Epidemiology
and Community Health).
Public Health Grant allocation by local authority
(Source: House of Commons
Library)
