A BRADFORD MP has hit out at cuts which he claims will “damage” the district.

Labour’s Imran Hussain, who represents Bradford East, said figures he has obtained show the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is cutting the funding allocation of the public health ring-fenced grant.

Mr Hussain said that under the 2021/22 funding allocation, Bradford will be provided with £42.6 million, which is already down from the £45 million in cash terms from 2015/16.

He said when the figures are adjusted for inflation, the real terms figures see the allocation fall by a total of £8.4 million between 2015/16 to 2021/22.

The MP said this will result in a cut of £17 per person in the last six years, representing a fall of almost 20 per cent and raised major concerns about the impact - reducing the amount of money available to spend on public health initiatives at “one of the most critical times”. 

Mr Hussain has called on the Government to “immediately reverse” the cuts to the grant and ensure Bradford receives significant investment to counter longstanding health inequalities; help cut GP waiting times for care and treatment, and improve life expectancy rates in Bradford, which currently fall short of the national average.

He said: “One of the Government’s key responsibilities is to help protect public health, so I am shocked that they are cutting funding in real terms for public health initiatives in Bradford, a city that already has one of the highest rates of health inequalities across the country and one of the highest mortality rates for coronavirus.

“As we have seen over the past year, public health is important to the wellbeing of us all, and those places across the world with strong public health institutions have avoided some of the worst aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, so this cut is not just irresponsible behaviour by the Government, but incredibly reckless.”

He added: “Ministers must explain in no uncertain terms why they think that it is a good idea to push through this cut in the middle of a pandemic, and they must act to reverse the damage that will be caused by their underfunding of public health projects in Bradford before it is too late.”

A DHSC spokesperson said: “We are providing extensive support for Directors of Public Health, and their teams, to protect and improve the public’s health and wellbeing during the current pandemic, and beyond.

“As well as making over £11 billion of funding available to local councils to support them with the costs and impacts of Covid-19, we are increasing the public health grant in 2021/22.

“This will ensure local authorities can continue to invest in prevention and essential frontline health services.”

They said local authority spending through the public health grant will be maintained and the public health grant to local authorities in England will increase from £3.279 billion in 2020/21 to £3.324 billion in 2021/22 - an increase of one per cent in cash terms