The Liberal Democrats plan to reverse cuts to the Public Health Grant should they win the upcoming general election.
The Public Health Grant funds health checks for infants, children, mothers, working age adults and pensioners.
The party’s plan follows proposals announced in the last week to boost GP numbers by 8,000 and give people the legal right to see a GP within seven days.
The Liberal Democrats said its manifesto will pledge to reverse cuts to the Public Health Grant with £1bn of investment per year, paid for by a crackdown on tax evasion.
The party added the increase in funding will also reverse the 28% real-terms cuts to the Public Health Grant to local authorities since 2015.
Sarah Woolnough, CEO of The King’s Fund, said: “We warmly welcome this commitment from the Liberal Democrats to restore the Public Health Grant to previous funding levels.
“Prevention is better than cure and that has never been truer than at a time when NHS services are full to bursting point.
“The evidence shows that investing in public health at a local level is a highly cost-effective use of public spending and reduces use of higher acuity health services.
“Cuts made to the public health grant since 2015/16 have had a major impact on local services – such as sexual health clinics, smoking cessation services and children’s health visitors – which play a key role in protecting and improving people’s health.
“Whilst this injection of funds would be welcome, we would like to see all of the major political parties commit to bold government action on the biggest risk factors in our communities – smoking, obesity, clean air, alcohol – that lead to ill health and early death.
“Although local government leaders will welcome this increase to an individual funding grant, local authorities provide a huge range of services which support health and wellbeing in our local communities.
“It is therefore crucial that all parties must present a credible plan to properly fund local government.”
