Chair's statement: Public Health England's grant to local authorities
17 December 2014
A statement from The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts.
"We all know that prevention is better than cure. Good public health is critical to reducing the burden on local health economies and the wider NHS at a time when the health service is facing unprecedented financial challenges, as well as improving the lives of individuals. The NHS spends an extraordinary £3.5 billion a year on treating alcohol related harm—almost half the £8 billion the Chief Executive of the NHS says is needed to plug the hole in its finances.
And there still remain unacceptable health inequalities that must be tackled—it cannot be right that a man living in Tower Hamlets has a healthy life expectancy of just 52.5 years, 17.5 years lower than a man living on the other side of London in Richmond upon Thames.
The transfer of responsibility for local public health to councils has been widely welcomed, but it is happening at a time when local authorities’ funding from government will be cut by 37% by 2015–16. There is uncertainty as to whether the ring-fence around the public health grant will remain in place beyond 2016. If the ring-fence is removed, there is a risk that overall spending on public health will decline as councils come under ever greater financial pressure. Public Health England needs to start thinking now about how it will work with local authorities in such a scenario.
Public Health England must also get better at providing information and support to local authorities to enable them to use the public health grant to best effect. It is incredibly disappointing that almost two-thirds of directors of public health in local authorities said Public Health England had not helped them to understand public health evidence.
I expect to hear how Public Health England will provide stronger support for local authorities when it appears before my Committee in January."