County Council welcomes funding for public health

Devon County Council has welcomed an announcement from the Department of Health that it will receive £20.7m to deliver its public health responsibilities from this April.

As part of the NHS health reforms, from 1st April the council will be required to deliver services that improve the health of Devon’s population, prevent ill-health and reduce current inequalities that exist from region to region. This includes stop smoking advice, drug and alcohol services, sexual health clinics and providing advice and intelligence to health providers. To support this function, the public health team, currently employed by the NHS, will transfer to the council’s employment.

Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Lead Member for Health and Wellbeing said: “We’re pleased that this settlement means we can now begin the more detailed planning phase of our public health transition.

“We have less than three months before we take on the responsibility for public health, and work is continuing apace to ensure we are ready to meet this challenge. We are in a good position to build strong and dynamic relationships with our partners and our communities to reduce health inequalities across the County and improve the health and wellbeing of the people who live here.”

Dr Virginia Pearson, Devon’s Director of Public Health, said: “We welcome the news of the financial detail of our settlement from the Department of Health. Whilst this does represent an above inflation increase on last year’s budget, we are seeing an increase in demand on some of the services at an even greater rate. The allocation should allow us to continue to offer the same level of service across the county as well as to begin to develop approaches to emerging public health issues.

“This outline settlement will enable us to examine our budget in more detail and begin a more robust planning phase in this process.”