Public health funding boost needed, say councils

The Local Government Association says that coronavirus has exposed existing health inequalities which need to be levelled up if we are to protect our communities in future.

Council leaders have said that the virus has disproportionately impacted certain groups of people, such as those who are overweight or obese, diabetic or with other physical and mental health conditions. It is clear that by intervening earlier and helping to prevent some of these conditions from developing in the first place, more lives could have been saved.

They say that the upcoming Spending Review is an opportunity to address this divide by reversing the £700 million of public health funding reductions experienced by councils over the past five years.

Among the longer-term asks of government which the LGA is calling for are: the creation of a Healthy Communities Fund to support coordinated, community led action; dedicated prevention funding to allow councils to help prevent people falling into ill-health, such as weight loss classes, the NHS health check, information and advice campaigns; investment in early intervention and support for children’s health; and for the government should invest some of the existing alcohol duty revenue to fund alcohol treatment, similar to the approach already used in gambling, where there is a levy on operators used to fund research, education and treatment.

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Councils’ public health teams have been leading the local response to coronavirus, all while trying to keep essential services like drug and alcohol treatment running on limited resources. We cannot expect public health services to continue to meet rising demand, especially in the wake of the pandemic, without the extra resources to back this up. The government wants to increase healthy life expectancy by an extra five years by 2035, but we need the preventative measures in place now to make that happen.

“If we are to finally tackle the country’s long-standing health inequalities and create happier, healthier and more resilient communities, we need to start investing in these vital services now to meet the upcoming challenges post-pandemic.”