Your Address

                                                                                                        Date

 

 

 

Seema Kennedy MP,

Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Public Health,

House of Commons,

London, SW1A OAA.

 

 Dear Seema Kennedy

 

Re: Public Health Funding- Supporting the Campaign to increase funding to Enfield

 

Public Health helps everyone - babies, toddlers and teenagers, it is very disappointing to see that once again Enfield does not receive a fair allocation. 

 

How can it be fair and right that this year:

·         Islington will get £103 per head of its population

·         Camden £100

·         and neighbouring Haringey on Enfield’s doorstep is getting £69

·         this is almost 50% more than our £47

Additionally, these three boroughs are part of North Central London STP, which has pledged to reduce health inequalities for their 1.5 million citizens.

 

The Over 50s Forum has received a letter from the policy manager. public health systems and strategy, at the Department of Health & Social Care, telling them that although they are giving Kensington and Chelsea residents £130 per head to spend on public health  “we do not consider a per capita basis to be the best way of determining allocations.”

 

So if that is the case why do the Whitehall policymakers take the illogical route of just looking at what we had last year and then reducing this sum. This has happened every year and this year Enfield’s funding is down 3.6 per cent or by £444,000.

 

 This means there will be less to spend this year on sexual health services, NHS health checks, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking cessation, tackling obesity and much, much more. 

 

I would like you to provide a written response to the following questions:

  • Why has the assessment of public health funding for Enfield, the borough with the fastest growing population in London, not been updated since 2015, despite having some of the most deprived and poverty-stricken wards in the country?
  • Why is Enfield’s public health grant of £47 per head of our growing population so much lower than the average £73 for all London’s boroughs?
  • Without waiting for the next spending review in 2020 will you now ensure that  Enfield gets a fair deal for funding its vital public health services - funding the prevention of ill-health and thus help to reduce some of the demand on our coveted NHS?.

 

I look forward to receiving your response.

 

Kind regards,

 

 

 

 

Your Name

 

 

 

 

 

Optional to send to your local MP:

 

Cc Joan Ryan, MP Enfield North, House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA

 

Or: Bambos Charalambous MP Enfield Southgate, House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA

 

Or: Kate Osamor MP Edmonton House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA