Torbay's health funding cut by £1.7 million

Government slashed cash over six years

The public health team tackling the response to covid-19 in Torbay has had its government funding cut by more than £1.7 million in the last six years.

The figure was given by Torbay Council Cabinet member Jackie Stockman in an update on budget plans for next year. 

Cllr Stockman said the ring-fenced public health grant had seen cuts of £1,736,000 over the last six years. “That has had a big impact on public health,” Cllr Stockman told a meeting to review the budget plans on Monday night. She said the grant for next year will go up by £620,000 to £9.7 million. But £450,000 of that will go to cover a pay rise for health staff which is now the responsibility of the council under changes to social care.

Cllr Stockman highlighted the “extreme stress” the council’s team of 13 public health staff had been working under to deal with the local response to the pandemic.

Responsibility for public health moved from the NHS to local authorities in 2013, including services to tackle sexual health, obesity, tobacco, drugs and alcohol misuse. The total expenditure on public health for the next financial year is planned at  £11.7 million.

Alongside the ring-fenced government grant, the service receives other funding including a sum from the Police and Crime Commissioner for substance misuse treatment.

At the end of October the government announced an extra grant of £1.62 million for Torbay Council to help cover costs related to the pandemic. That takes the total of extra funding during the crisis to £18.75 million.

The council is predicting the pandemic will cost it an extra £7.7 million next year, and says it currently has a £2.6 million gap in income to cover its spending.

The authority’s leadership of a partnership between Liberal Democrats and Independents is currently consulting on the draft budget for 2021/22.It details revenue spending of almost £116million and also highlights how the council plans to use its capital investment programme to support economic regeneration. The council will consider feedback and must eventually set a balanced budget in February for the financial year starting in April.

The budget proposals include a council tax increase of 1.99 per cent, just below an expected 2 per cent cap on rises, which would raise an extra £1.4million. That would see the bill for an average Band D home go up by £31 a year, before other charges are added from the police, fire service, and Brixham Town Council for residents in that area.

Consultation on the spending plans will continue until December 4. Details are available including a link to a questionnaire on the council’s website at www.torbay.gov.uk/budget-202122.