Public health funding inequalities have left many councils without enough funding to meet local need, MPs have warned.
Allocation of the £2.7bn grant has seen 13 town halls receiving an amount of funding more than a fifth below what is needed to reflect demand, a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found.
In contrast, last year saw 28 councils receiving a level of funding more than 20% above what was required locally.
MPs warned that funding inequalities were likely to continue now that the Department of Health had decided not to change grant distribution for 2015/16.
The department was urged to speed up funding allocations to town halls and continue to ring-fence cash for public health.
Concerns were raised that spending on local wellbeing could fall without such guidelines, especially given the increasing financial pressures councils are currently under. While town halls have a statutory duty to improve the health of their community, MPs said Public Health England (PHE) needed to exert greater pressure on councils to tackle particular issues.
PAC chair Margaret Hodge said: ‘It is concerning that the Department of Health is not getting local authorities to their target funding allocations for public health quickly enough, with nearly one third of 152 local authorities currently receiving funding that is more than 20% above or below what would be their fair share.
‘The department should set out clear plans for how quickly it will move local authorities to their target funding allocations for public health and prioritise a quick decision on whether the ring-fence will remain.
‘There are still unacceptable health inequalities across the country – for example, healthy life expectancy for men ranges from 52.5 years to 70 years depending on where they live. These inequalities make PHE’s support at a local level particularly important, but we are concerned that PHE does not have strong enough ways of influencing local authorities to ensure progress against all of its top public health priorities.
‘Given how important it is to tackle the many wider causes of poor public health, PHE needs to influence departments more effectively and translate its own passion into action across Whitehall.’
Responding to the PAC report, a Department of Health spokesperson said: 'We have made a huge investment — £8.2bn in total — through local authorities in improving public health, and delivered real terms growth across the country in the last two years.
'This major investment will stay in place next year and we want to see local areas continue their excellent work to help people lead healthier lives. The money has again been ring-fenced so the focus will remain firmly on improving the health of local communities.'
