Councils request £1 billion of NHS money

Council leaders are set to ask government to divert about £1bn a year from the NHS to local government in this year’s comprehensive spending review.

A paper presented to a Local Government Association executive meeting yesterday suggested that 1 per cent of the health service budget should be transferred from central to local government to deliver better value for money on adult health and social care.

It says adult social care spending has been “misallocated” to the NHS and funding should be shifted from acute services to prevention.

In addition, it proposes grant funding should be maintained at its current real-terms levels from 2008 to 2011, the period of the spending review.

The document contrasts the 90 per cent increase in health spending over the past decade with the 14 per cent increase in general grant funding for local services, excluding education.

The paper is still under discussion by LGA members.

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