Lib Dems pledge to reverse Conservative cuts to public health grant with £1bn a year to tackle “ticking time bomb” for NHS

2 Jun 2024

EMBARGO: 22:30 Saturday 1st June

Liberal Democrats pledge to tackle “ticking time bomb” for NHS with a major funding boost for the Public Health Grant
The party’s manifesto will include a commitment to increase the Public Health Grant which will help fund health checks for 40-74 year olds, health visits for infants and their mothers, and wider access to blood pressure tests
Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said her party’s policy will reverse the “scandalous” cuts made by the Conservatives since 2015

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 Daisy Cooper, 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)