Cumbria County Council has joined dozens of other councils seeking a more sustainable future for the funding of public health in the UK.
A letter outlining the case has been signed by a range of council leaders from right across the UK from as far as the Isles of Scilly to the far north of Cumbria.
Collectively these Leaders are calling on the government to work together with councils to prevent ill health, reduce health inequalities and support a sustainable health and social care system.
Cllr Deborah Earl, Cabinet member for Public Health and Communities, said: “In 2019/20 every local authority will have less to spend on public health than the year before. Councils are now responsible for delivering most public health services, but our ability to do so is increasingly compromised by ongoing public health grant reductions and the broader funding climate for local government. Reducing investment in public health is short sighted as it puts undue demand on local health services and our economy suffers too. That is why we are asking government to work with us to secure better and fairer funding arrangements for us all.”
Public Health Facts:
- Around four in ten cancers are preventable – largely through reducing avoidable risk factors, such as stopping smoking, keeping a healthy weight and cutting back on alcohol – reducing public health funding is a false economy.
- Smoking, obesity and alcohol account for 80,000, 30,000 and 7,000 early deaths each year respectively.
- Smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable cancer in the world. Furthermore, smoking-related ill health costs our local authorities £760 million every year in social care costs. On average, for every £1 spent on smoking cessation, £10 is saved in future health costs.
