Councillor defends plans to cut Shropshire's public health budget

Shropshire Council has identified a need to save an addition £2 million on top of the £2m noted in the previous financial review.

Services which could be affected include health promotion and illness prevention programmes including weight management, smoking cessation, health checks and falls prevention, as well as physical activity and children’s health promotion.

Cabinet member Councillor Lee Chapman said: "Like every council across England we have to set a balanced budget and this means making tough choices, which of course is always difficult to do.

"We know there is a significant risk to the health of the local population if health promotion and illness prevention programmes were forced to be reduced or ceased. These are savings we really do not wish to make, and we want to ensure that these proposed savings do not compromise the council’s public health outcomes."

He said there has been an ongoing increase in the council's expenditure, particularly in adult social care and children's services as demands increase year on year.

Shropshire also receives one of the lowest public health funding per head in England and the authority is also the lowest funded in the West Midlands at £39 per head.

Formula

Councillor Chapman said: "Unfortunately, there has not been a realisation by central government in the way that it allocates this needs-based formula. As a result, rural councils like Shropshire Council that have responsibilities for adult social care have seen a massive increase in the burden of expenditure, and that has not been reflected in the way government allocates its funding.

Whilst we have received additional one-off funding for adult social care from central government, this will still not address the issue. We need a sustainable long term solution to the funding of adult social care, which is largely behind the overspend."

Councillor Chapman has arranged to present evidence to the Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, around the way the formula for public health is allocated and how Shropshire get's a poor share.

He added: "As with many councils we have to sustain ourselves in terms of the opportunity to generate revenue in Shropshire, because what’s clear is that we’re not getting enough help from central government.

"Until we receive clearer guidance from central government, we just don’t know how much public grant will be left by 2020, and we have to plan potentially for that not being there.

"We will continue to shout loud and hard and continue to lobby to ensure we get a fair deal for our residents."

The need for cost-cutting was revealed in the Public Health Grant 2018-2020 update report which went before Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee earlier this week.