Peterborough councillors demand fairer public health funding from government
Peterborough councillors have called on the government to provide the authority with fairer public health funding.
On Tuesday, July 8 a Peterborough City Council scrutiny committee discussed plans to cut £350,000 in spending on various public health services in Peterborough, with a final decision to be made by cabinet on July 15.
As a result of public health funding challenges, the council is aiming to reduce spending on adult weight management, health trainers, training for health professionals, physical activity, falls prevention and outreach health checks from £442,694 to £100,000.
The remaining £100,000 would be split, with £50,000 used to support wider work on the prevention of obesity and £50,000 allocated to falls prevention and physical activity.
The council’s cabinet will be recommended to approve these changes to the budget on July 15 and also award a £582,216 two-year contract for provision of smoking cessation services, with a one-year possible extension.
Councillor Shabina Qayyum, cabinet member for public health and adult social care, said the current level of funding from the government “simply isn’t enough”.
The council’s public health services are funded by a ringfenced grant from central government. The value of the public health grant for Peterborough City Council in 2025/26 is £13,267,441.
The council report states: “If our funding was the same level as the average for similar local authorities outside of London, we would have an extra £2.95million per year to spend on public health in Peterborough.”
At the scrutiny committee meeting on July 8, members agreed on a further recommendation which called on the council’s health bosses and local MPs to write to the public health minister and ask for Peterborough’s public health funding to be reviewed.
Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, chair of the committee, said: “We have all the stats, we have all the facts, we are underfunded in this city for public health. Indisputable.”
Speaking on the government’s funding formula, Raj Lakshman, acting director of public health at the council, suggested it should take things like demographics into account and not just the number of people.
The Department of Health and Social Care was approached for comment.