Agenda item

5.1

Public Question in respect of the Public Health Budget

Mike Simpkin commented that there were some excellent examples of public health funding being used in targeted programmes to improve health through adding to local authority services, for example through housing improvement. However, the proposed saving and transfer of up to £2.5m from the public health budget looked like a significant dilution and it wasn’t obvious whether this year’s use of public health money to support community libraries had any specific health link (e.g. health collections, health information, links to health hubs etc.) Will the Council therefore spell out exactly what public health services were proposed to be lost and what measures will be taken to assess the health impacts of the proposed transfers (both positive and negative)? If agreed, will these re-allocations be subject to reassessment next year, rather than being absorbed into the basic budgets of the services they are supporting?

In response Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health, reported that Public Health had come into the Council in April 2013. There were a number of historical contracts which existed and savings and transfers in relation to this were outlined in the Budget report on the agenda for this meeting.

Councillor Iqbal then referred to the Smoking Cessation project. This was based on payment by results where for every person who stopped smoking the Council would get paid. There had been a projected underspend in this project for the year and possibly next year. As a result the Council were looking at other Public Health projects which they could look to fund with the underspend. For example, a lot of work had been done on the Best Start project which aimed to give children the best start in life. A bid had been made for external funding to support the project which had been unsuccessful. However, the Council were keen to continue with the project and it may be possible to use the underspend from the Smoking Cessation project to support this.

Councillor Iqbal also confirmed that no funding from Public Health was being invested in libraries in the City.

5.2

Public Question in respect of Healthwatch Sheffield

Mike Simpkin commented that it was being rumoured that there will be a significant cut to the Sheffield Healthwatch budget, possibly up to 15%. This was a statutory function for which the Council received external though not ringfenced funding from the Department of Health which had requested transparency about local decisions. If rumours were true and not due to a cut in the national allocation, would it not be disreputable for the Council to cut local inspection and evaluation not just because of the NHS but also of its own social care services at a time when these were under hugely increasing pressure as well as being subject to integration and change?

Councillor Iqbal confirmed that the rumours referred to by Mr Simpkin were not true and there would be no 15% grant to Healthwatch.

Councillor Julie Dore, Leader of the Council, added that Healthwatch Sheffield were members of the Health and Wellbeing Board which she Co-Chaired with Tim Moorhead of the Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group. Councillor Dore and Tim Moorhead also had regular meetings with Healthwatch Sheffield and were committed to engaging with them.