Public Health
Councillor Connett to move:
Devon County Council notes:
· the vital role played by Public Health in helping Devon residents to lead healthier lives by, for example, avoiding diseases, unwanted pregnancies, support to stop smoking, and eating better;
· with grave concern the announcement of a further £85m cut to the Public Health Budget, as one of 12 Ministerial statements published by the Government on the last day of the Parliamentary term before Christmas, only weeks after the Secretary of State for Health described prevention as his priority; and
· this is on top of cuts to the Public Health budget announced since Summer 2015, now totalling just over £600 million.
This Council meeting further notes:
· the comments of the Health Foundation, who described these cuts as a false economy and who have calculated that an additional £3bn a year is required to reverse the impact of government cuts to the Public Health grant to date and have called for this increased budget to be allocated according to need; and
· the warnings from the King’s Fund that such cuts could put pressure on councils to cut non-statutory sexual health prevention services, which could lead to more sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.
This Council believes that our Public Health team perform vital work to help keep the residents of Devon healthy and to avoid more costly admissions to hospital and other interventions by our NHS and that this should be properly funded by central Government.
This Council meeting resolves to:
· thank our Director of Public Health and her team for the great work they do across Devon despite continued financial challenges;
· condemn the Government’s use of the time just before Christmas to make announcements such as this;
· call on the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member to consider carefully the required cuts to services will be implemented; and
· ask the Leader and Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Health, calling on the Government to deliver increased investment in Public Health and to support a sustainable health and social care system by taking a “prevention first” approach
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Councillor Connett MOVED and Councillor Dewhirst SECONDED;
Devon County Council notes:
· the vital role played by Public Health in helping Devon residents to lead healthier lives by, for example, avoiding diseases, unwanted pregnancies, support to stop smoking, and eating better;
· with grave concern the announcement of a further £85m cut to the Public Health Budget, as one of 12 Ministerial statements published by the Government on the last day of the Parliamentary term before Christmas, only weeks after the Secretary of State for Health described prevention as his priority; and
· this is on top of cuts to the Public Health budget announced since Summer 2015, now totalling just over £600 million.
This Council meeting further notes:
· the comments of the Health Foundation, who described these cuts as a false economy and who have calculated that an additional £3bn a year is required to reverse the impact of government cuts to the Public Health grant to date and have called for this increased budget to be allocated according to need; and
· the warnings from the King’s Fund that such cuts could put pressure on councils to cut non-statutory sexual health prevention services, which could lead to more sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.
· This Council believes that our Public Health team perform vital work to help keep the residents of Devon healthy and to avoid more costly admissions to hospital and other interventions by our NHS and that this should be properly funded by central Government.
This Council meeting resolves to:
· thank our Director of Public Health and her team for the great work they do across Devon despite continued financial challenges;
· condemn the Government’s use of the time just before Christmas to make announcements such as this;
· call on the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member to consider carefully the required cuts to services will be implemented; and
· ask the Leader and Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Health, calling on the Government to deliver increased investment in Public Health and to support a sustainable health and social care system by taking a “prevention first” approach
In accordance with Standing Order 6(6) the Notice of Motion was referred, without discussion, to the Cabinet for consideration.