Public health cuts worse in north than south

The poorest parts of England have seen the biggest cuts to councils' public health budgets, a new study from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North suggests.

The think tank's analysis points out that these regions have also been particularly hard hit by coronavirus.

Local authorities use the public health grant to fund stop smoking and weight loss programmes or sexual health care. Since 2014, the IPPR North think tank says, the public health grant has been cut by around £13.20 per person across England.

In deprived communities like Bensham in Gateshead, poor housing and a lack of jobs are feeding ill health, and cuts to public health projects targeting smoking, obesity or addiction haven't helped - say the IPPR.

The analysis finds that there is a significant amount of regional variation. For example, in the Midlands, the cut works out at £16.70 per person, while in the north it's £15.20 per person. At a more regional level, the north east was worst affected, with cuts of £23.24 per person.

Anna Round, a senior research fellow at IPPR and one of the co-authors of the report, says that the cuts have exacerbated long standing health inequalities between rich and poor, north and south.

She said: "The north and the Midlands are the areas with the worst levels of health, so obviously it's worrying that some of that investment in making health better has actually been cut most in the areas that most need it.

"That cut has led to the reduction in some of those really important programmes that get to work on the things that cause ill health. So programmes like drug and alcohol reduction, things to help reduce rates of obesity and smoking."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Health and Social Care in England said it had 'a strong track record on public health', with smoking levels are at an all-time low, more people than ever being tested for sexually transmitted infections and the launch of an obesity strategy. She added that the recent Spending Review had committed to maintaining the public health grant - and that £10 billion had been provided to councils to help cope with the pandemic.