A Freedom of Information Act request by Mind has found that local authorities in England spend ‘an average of 1% of their public health budget on mental health’.
The charity said: “Local authorities have a remit to promote both good physical and mental health. While they spend millions of pounds on physical health programmes, our findings show most areas of the country spend close to nothing on preventing mental health problems.”
The Department of Health requires local authorities to report on their public health spending against a set list of categories, including sexual health services, obesity, and ‘stop smoking’ services. Currently, Mind points out, “any spending on public mental health is reported under ‘miscellaneous’, grouped together with 14 other areas” – undermining the Government’s commitment to giving mental health equality with physical health.
The charity said: “All this comes despite conservative estimates that mental health problems cost health and social care services £21 billion annually, with a further £30 billion lost in economic output. Data we have obtained shows some areas don’t plan to spend a single penny on preventing mental health problems this year. Responses from many local authorities also paint a picture of enormous confusion about what local public health teams should do to help prevent people becoming mentally unwell.”
Mind says the Government must “send a clear message to public health teams to prioritise mental health by asking them to no longer label public mental health spend as ‘Miscellaneous’, and instead give public mental health its own category”. It has produced a best practice guide* outlining the kinds of initiatives local authorities could be commissioning to help people in their communities stay mentally healthy.
* Our communities, our mental health, can be downloaded at: www.tinyurl.com/pqupdhh