Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities 2023/24

It is disappointing that the Public Health Grant allocations for 2023/24 have been published so late (15 March). With two weeks away from the start of the financial year and councils are only just being formally told how much money is being made available for councils to tackle costly public health issues such as sexual health, drug and alcohol services and stop smoking services.

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Key messages

  • It is disappointing that the Public Health Grant allocations for 2023/24 have been published so late (15 March). With two weeks away from the start of the financial year and councils are only just being formally told how much money is being made available for councils to tackle costly public health issues such as sexual health, drug and alcohol services and stop smoking services.
  • This delay to the announcement will make it extremely difficult for councils to plan effectively. We ask the Government to ensure that the timing of all future Public Health Grant Allocations is aligned with the Local Government Finance Settlement.
  • Councils have seen a £770 million real terms reduction in funding between 2015/16 and 2022/23 – a fall of £17.06 (22.3 per cent) per person.
  • The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) wrote to councils to explain that they would be expected to use their existing budgets in order to pay for increases in NHS pay for community services they commissioned.
  • The proposed new increases would include a 5.2 per cent pay rise for staff 2023-4, as well as one off 6 per cent cost for 2022-3 for staff and are currently being consulted upon by health trade unions.
  • The Government has increased the local public health grant provided to councils by 3.2 per cent this year. However, the LGA has warned that meeting potential NHS pay demands would far exceed any increases they have had in in their grant for next year, leading to services needing to be cut.
  • NHS pay settlements cannot and should not be an additional burden on already pressured council public health budgets. Vital public health services run by councils cannot continue to maximise their role at the heart of communities while continually having to make budget cuts or manage uncosted new burdens. To end this uncertainty, we call on the Government to continue to fund NHS pay rises in full.
  • Every pound invested by Government in council-run services such as public health is helping to relieve pressure on other services like the NHS and the criminal justice system. Just as pressures exist within NHS and social care, pressures are mounting within statutory public health services. Analysis shows that local authority public health funding is three to four times more cost-effective in improving health outcomes than money spent in the NHS.
  • It is vitally important that this dialogue continues to address challenges which arise over the coming months and years, and to secure sufficient ongoing funding to ensure all local authorities can continue to meet their public health responsibilities beyond 2023/24.
  • It is crucial that councils are given a free hand in how best to find the savings locally and we would seek government’s reassurance on this point. Councils are best placed to decide how reduced resources should be used to meet our public health ambitions locally.
  • Public health teams have faced an unprecedented period of funding and demand pressures and continue to face significant pressures and challenges. Sufficient ongoing funding is needed to ensure all local authorities can continue to meet their statutory public health responsibilities.
  • We continue to make the case for multi-year settlements and for more long-term certainty around public health funding for all councils. An increased focus on prevention through an uplift to the public health grant is needed, as well as a wider review of the adequacy of public health funding. This will support the Government’s wider aims by improving health outcomes, reducing health spending and putting social care and the NHS on a better footing for the long term.

Key announcements

  • In 2023/24, through the Public Health Grant and the pilot of 100 per cent retained business rate, funding for local authorities in Greater Manchester increased from £3.417 billion in 2022/23 to £3.529 billion, providing each local authority with a 3.3 per cent cash terms increase.  The increase works out to £1.67 per person.
  • The Government also published indicative allocations for 2024-25, based on a further 1.3 per cent cash uplift which would take 2024-25 funding to £3.575 billion.
  • These allocations include baselining of local government funding of £1.4 million a year for their enforcement duties under the Botulinum Toxin and Fillers (Children) Act 2021.
  • The statement also refers to a wider package of investment in public health services. This includes previously announced targeted investment up to 2025 of £516 million going to local authorities to improve drug and alcohol addiction treatment and £170 million to improve the Start for Life services available to families with majority allocated to 75 local authority areas, as part of the joint Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care £300 million Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.
  • The Government have stated that the public health grant will need to cover all pay pressures for 2023/24, including the impact of NHS pay settlements. Funding previously allocated to reflect the additional costs to local authorities of the 2018 NHS pay settlement is now fully baselined as part of the Grant.
Public health allocations

2022/23

(£ billion)

2023/24

(£ billion)

Change

(£ billion)

Change (%)

£3.417

£3.575

£0.112

3.3%

Contact

Iredia Oboh, Public Affairs and Communications Manager

[email protected]