Local authority leaders have urged the Government to use the upcoming Autumn Budget to invest in sexual and reproductive health services.
Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said councils were ‘working tirelessly’ to improve access to contraception and other sexual health services.
However, he warned that rising demand, coupled with declining funding, was ‘putting services at breaking point.’
‘We are calling on the Government to launch a 10-year sexual health strategy to tackle these challenges and use the upcoming Autumn Budget to invest in the public health grant, which funds vital preventative services like sexual and reproductive health,’ he said.
