New £386m of public health funding to target ex-mining areas and regional inequalities

The exact use of the funding will be chosen by councils, but it could go towards anti-smoking schemes, childhood health services and alcohol prevention.

It’s part of the Government’s plan to focus on prevention and reduce pressure on NHS hospitals and acute services.

Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne told The Yorkshire Post that this was about “tackling some of those endemic health inequalities that exist” across the region.

He explained that in particular the funds would focus on former mining areas, as conditions such as lung cancer are far more common in ex-coal miners.

Mr Gwynne said: “We can’t hide from the fact that in some of the Yorkshire coal fields there are some illnesses that are very prevalent there as a legacy of the mining industry.

“That’s just a reality and why those particular communities will have a greater proportion of the public health grant than some of the leafier parts of North Yorkshire for example.”

The Labour MP explained that the public health funding is focused on areas with higher deprivation.

He said that the most deprived parts of England will get around two-and-a-half times the funding that the most affluent areas receive.

The Public Health Minister said: “We know that deprivation and poverty are the two main drivers of ill health and those health inequalities.

“That’s why the public health grant is incredibly weighted towards the most deprived communities.

“It reflects the need to target the areas with the worst health outcomes.

“Across South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire you’ve got some metropolitan districts with some real health inequalities.

“That is largely as a response to deprivation, poverty and industrial legacy.”

The 3 per cent real terms uplift in public health funding comes after a seminal report found the poor health was stunting the North’s economic growth.

IPPR’s cross-party Commission on Health and Prosperity - chaired by top surgeon Lord Darzi and Prof Dame Sally Davies - found that austerity and Covid have left the UK as the “literal sick man of Europe”.

Regional health inequalities between the North and the South East are intensifying and exacerbating growth in economic inactivity.

Chris Thomas, head of the commission, explained: “When we mapped out sickness and economic inactivity there are some pretty substantial hotspots.

“They tend to be places in the North of England that have been deindustrialised, or are experiencing deindustrialisation.

“When we break that down regionally, that steers towards Yorkshire and the Humber having higher rates of economic activity and higher rates of sickness than the South of England, particularly the South East.”

However, despite this Yorkshire and the Humber is set to receive less funding per head than London, although much more than the South East and South West.

Mr Gwynne added: “Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS found that children are sicker today than a decade ago, and adults are falling into ill-health earlier in life.

“Prevention is better than cure. If we can reach people earlier and help them stay healthy, this extra investment will pay for itself several times over in reduced demand on the NHS and by keeping people in work.”