Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in level of funding for public health grants on a real-terms basis for each financial year since 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

The following table shows the local authority public health grant allocations for each year since 2015/16. The targeted departmental public health funding is allocated to local authorities for drug treatment, the Start for Life programme, weight management services and human immunodeficiency virus pre-exposure prophylaxis.

The 2021 Spending Review confirmed that the public health grant to local authorities would increase over the settlement period. In 2022/23, the grant increased by 2.81% to £3.417 billion. This is in addition to targeted investment through local Government in Start for Life support and drug and alcohol treatment services.

Notes:

1. 2015/16 allocation includes part-year funding for 0-5s public health services, which transferred from the National Health Service to local government from 1 October 2015, and the impact of a £200 million in-year reduction in the grant initially allocated.
2. Figures from 2017/18 include funding retained by 10 Greater Manchester local authorities as part of a business rate pilot, not allocated via a grant.
3. Figures include public health grant allocations, along with targeted departmental funding allocated to local authorities for drug treatment, Family Hubs and the Start for Life programme, obesity funding to support adult and children weight management services, and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.