The King’s Fund responds to the announcement of the Public Health Grant allocations in England

Commenting on the announcement of the government’s Public Health Grant allocations 2025/26, David Buck, Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund, said:

‘The £3.9 billion public health grant for 2025/26 represents a welcome, real terms increase on the previous year. We are yet to see government announce the separate budgets for council drug and alcohol services, so it is hard to say whether there will be an overall increase in council public health budgets, but today’s announcement is a positive sign.

‘The public health grant is the bread and butter for local authorities implementing services to improve people’s health – a particularly important task at a time when Britons are spending more years of their life in poor health, and millions are out of work due to long-term illness.  

‘The government has stated its welcome ambition to shift from treatment to prevention, but there is a long way to go. This country plans to spend over £3,000 per person on the NHS next year, compared with less than £70 per person for local authorities to prevent people from getting ill in the first place. The contrast is stark.

‘The allocation of this grant comes against a tight financial backdrop across all government departments. But the rising burden of disease across the country is itself hampering economic growth. Without ramping up investment and resources further in preventive services, it will be hard to realise one of the government’s essential goals – shifting from treatment to prevention.’