Councillors urged to work together for better health funding in Shropshire
A health expert has urged Shropshire councillors to put aside their political differences and lobby for better funding.
Professor Rod Thomson, director of Public Health, said members needed to work together to improve the amount granted to the county through the Government’s Public Health Grant.
Shropshire is the worst-funded authority in the West Midlands, receiving £39 per resident, compared to the national average of £59.
The amount has dropped year on year since 2015/16 by almost 10 per cent from £12.9m to an anticipated £11.9m in 2919/20.
The amount for 2018/19 was £12m.
Prof Thomson said: “We need to continue to lobby otherwise rural areas will continue to get a raw deal.
“The differences of politics in the council chamber need to be ignored.”
It comes as members of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee begin work to look at where further cuts can be made.
The county is performing well across most areas, but falls short on those killed and injured on roads, diabetes diagnoses for those over 17, obesity in adults, and women smoking at the time of giving birth.
Impacts
Councillor Lee Chapman, portfolio holder for health, said the authority needed to be “prudent”, but stressed he would not back savings that were not safe.
He added: “Our priority here is to make sure our approach to this is prudent and understand the detail of what the impacts are.
“Clearly Prof Thomson and myself are not going to let savings be delivered if it is not appropriate and I will be telling the cabinet we have not delivered them because they are not safe enough to be delivered.
Questions have also been asked ahead of plans by the Government to withdraw the grant from April 2020.
It would instead be up to authorities to fund NHS programmes from retained business rates and council tax.
Councillor Karen Calder, committee chairman, said the council had to be prepared for the changes which would increase financial pressures.
She continued: “This funding has been a concern for many years.
“What planning is in place for this authority come 2020 when the Public Health Fund stops?
“It is something we, as a committee, should be asking cabinet about to see what planning has gone into it.”
Report by Emily Lloyd, Local Democracy Reporter
