By Vivienne Russell | 24 January 2012
Plans to pay councils according to the public health results they achieve could be overly simplistic, local government leaders have warned.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley yesterday announced that councils that make measurable improvements to their communities’ public health will be rewarded with a cash premium.
Lansley launched a document setting out 66 health measures to help councils and government to determine local public health priorities and to assess progress being made. These include lower smoking rates, reduced obesity, fewer old people suffering falls and more women breastfeeding their babies.
From April this year, councils will receive a share of a £5.2bn public health funding pot to discharge their new duties.
The document said the premium would ‘highlight, and incentivise action on, a small number of indicators that reflect national or local strategic priorities’.
Lansley said: ‘Every area in the country is different so councils will be able to decide what the most important public health concern is for them and spend the money appropriately.
‘It is absolutely right that the budget and decision-making sits with councils. They will be able to address all aspects that affect our wellbeing – such as school attendance, homelessness and fuel poverty – in the round.’
But the Local Government Association warned that a payment-by-results approach could be too crude. David Rogers, chair of the LGA community wellbeing board, said: ‘Councils that are doing well and helping to improve people’s health and reduce health inequalities should rightly be rewarded but a “payment by results” system could be over-simplistic and fail to recognise the specific needs of local areas, including factors such as poverty, housing, education and transport.
‘Local authorities are ready to pick up the mantle of public health but we must be given the resources to do so. Only then can councils truly be at the forefront of tackling the social factors that contribute to poor health and providing services that help people to live long and healthy lives.’
Rogers added that a lack of clarity over funding was hampering councils’ public health preparations, and said authorities were concerned that allocations were being determined on inaccurate data.
‘To be effective, funding must be based on a formula that is transparent, robust and fairly represents an area’s needs,’ he said.
The Department of Health said it would publish further details on the premium as part of a finance update shortly.
