David Evans David9.Evans@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Health Services Research
What price public health? Funding the local public health system in England post-2013
Evans, David
Authors
Abstract
In April 2013 the local public health function in England was returned from the National Health Service (NHS) to local government, reversing the transfer to the NHS made in 1974 with the abolition of the medical officer of health. Although many in the field had long felt that local government was the appropriate home for public health given its wide-ranging responsibilities for the social determinants of health, the timing was poor. Local government was in the third year of what continued to be an unprecedented ten-year period of austerity imposed by central government with cumulative cuts of the order of 40% for many local authorities. And despite an initial commitment to a ring-fenced public health grant, this grant has been cut each year since 2015–2016 in addition to the wider local authority funding cuts which have had inevitable knock-on effects on the public health function. Crucial public health services such as early years, smoking cessation and sexual health services have all been cut. Despite these cuts the UK government continues to claim a commitment to improving public health and tackling inequalities in health. This study examines the government’s discourse on funding local public health services, and the ways in which it has responded to critics through a detailed documentary analysis of key government white papers, ministerial statements and its responses to criticisms, particularly from parliamentary select committees and professional bodies. The paper concludes by considering the implications for effective local public health action in a national regime of austerity.
Citation
Evans, D. (2021). What price public health? Funding the local public health system in England post-2013. Critical Public Health, 31(4), 429-440. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2020.1713302
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 4, 2020 |
Online Publication Date | Jan 15, 2020 |
Publication Date | 2021 |
Deposit Date | Apr 1, 2020 |
Publicly Available Date | Jan 16, 2021 |
Journal | Critical Public Health |
Print ISSN | 0958-1596 |
Electronic ISSN | 1469-3682 |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 31 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 429-440 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2020.1713302 |
Keywords | Public health, environmental and occupational health, England, austerity, funding, local authority |
Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5270645 |
Additional Information | Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=ccph20; Received: 2019-03-31; Accepted: 2020-01-04; Published: 2020-01-15 |
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Copyright Statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Critical Public Health on 15/1/2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09581596.2020.1713302?journalCode=ccph20.
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