The Government has uplifted funding for public health services in England by nearly £200m for the next financial year.
This means the Public Health Grant, which funds services such as sexual health clinics and school nurses via local authorities, will increase by 5.4% from around £3.7bn to £3.9bn.
According to the Government, this investment is a ‘key part’ of its plans to shift focus from hospital to community and from sickness to prevention.
This 3% real-terms increase marks the ‘biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending between 2016 and 2024’, the Government said.
But the Health Foundation pointed out that the allocation for 2025/26 is ‘still 26% smaller in real terms per person than in 2015/16’.
Experts also highlighted that the Government is yet to announce separate grant funding for drug and alcohol treatment, meaning the ‘full picture’ of public health funding for the next year is not yet clear.
Other services the Public Health Grant covers include smoking cessation programs, addiction recovery, family nurses, and public health support for local NHS services.
Prior to his suspension this weekend, minister for public health and prevention Andrew Gwynne said the Government is ‘committed’ to shifting towards prevention after ‘decades of cuts to public health’.
He said: ‘If we can reach people earlier and help them stay healthy, this extra investment will pay for itself several times over in reduced demand on the NHS and by keeping people in work.’
Health Foundation senior policy fellow Adam Briggs said today’s announcement is a ‘welcome first step’ and that investment in prevention ‘provides significant value for money’.
He continued: ‘The funding means an increase of 3% in real terms from 2024/25. However, we are still waiting for separate grant funding for drug and alcohol treatment to be confirmed, so we can’t yet see the full picture.
‘Moreover, this allocation is still 26% smaller in real terms per person than in 2015/16. Further restoring the public health grant to 2015/16 levels in the future would help counter declines in healthy life expectancy and reduce inequalities.
‘Over the past decade, there will have been cuts of 32% to sexual health services, 25% to drug and alcohol services and 25% for services that support 0–5-year-olds, including health visitors.’
The King’s Fund senior fellow David Buck also welcomed the real-terms increase on 2024/25, noting that the grant is the ‘bread and butter for local authorities implementing services to improve people’s health’.
‘We are yet to see government announce the separate budgets for council drug and alcohol services, so it is hard to say if there will be an overall increase in council public health budgets, but today’s announcement is a positive sign,’ he said.
Mr Buck added: ‘The Government has stated its welcome ambition to shift from treatment to prevention, but there is a long way to go.
‘This country plans to spend over £3,000 per person on the NHS next year, compared to less than £70 per person for local authorities to prevent people from getting ill in the first place. The contrast is stark.’
Last year, public health experts criticised funding cuts for sexual health services after figures showed concerning rises in gonorrhoea and syphilis in England.
In October, a report suggested there was tension and a lack of engagement between public health and ICS leaders.
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse.
