Fury as Chelsea fares better than Rotherham on healthy lifestyle spending

Kensington and Chelsea will £130 per head in public health grant  to promote healthy living in 2013-14.

But Rotherham, which has far higher levels of social deprivation and much lower life expectancy, will get only £53 per head — just £1 per head per week.

The money is being paid by the Government to local councils to help prevent illness.

Men in Kensington and Chelsea are expected to live eight years longer and women nine or ten years longer than those in Rotherham.

Wentworth and Dearne MP John Healey challenged health minister Anna Soubry over the north-south divide.

She disputed his claims and said she was proud of the Government’s commitment to public health.

But Cllr Ken Wyatt, Rotherham Borough Council’s health spokesman, said the situation was “disgraceful”.

“Our latest figures show Rotherham has some major health problems and challenges and that’s not reflected in the funding we’re receiving,” he said.

Councils acround the UK take over responsibility for public health from April 1 and have been allocated grants to be targeted by councils at a range of areas aimed at promoting health and preventing disease.

• These include alcohol and drug misuse services.
• Initiatives to increase the amount of exercise people do.
• Lifestyle campaigns to prevent cancer and long term conditions
• Initiatives on workplace health.

Mr Healey has urged health secretary Jeremy Hunt to look again at the allocations and stop the system which, he says, rewards rich, healthy areas and penalises those who need extra funding most.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Rotherham will be receiving £13.8million, which represents a real terms increase in funding, and a grant per-head allocation that is above the national average.

“Under the new system, funding will be specifically targeted at those areas with the worse health outcomes.”

What do you think? Is the north-south divide getting worse. Does Rotherham get a raw deal from the Government? Use the “write a comment” buttons to post your views or click here to join our poll.