The Government has increased councils' public health grants by £45m for 2021-22.

Councils will be allocated £3.3bn in public health funding in the next financial year, in addition to £80m to fund drug treatments and more than £70m for weight management services.

However, the 'small' increase was criticised by The Health Foundation charity, which said grant allocations represented a £1bn real terms cut compared to 2015-16.

David Finch, senior fellow at the Health Foundation, said: 'This is a 24% cut – equivalent to £1bn – on a real term per capita basis compared to 2015-16.

'These allocations have come late, just before the start of the next financial year, making planning ahead even more difficult.'