There are 2 item(s) tagged with the keyword "The Budget".
Reading the recent announcements from Public Health Minister, Steve Brine, about the new trailblazer programme to tackle childhood obesity I couldn’t help but wonder whether there is any joined up policy thinking taking place on domestic matters whilst the shadow of Brexit remains looming large over the country.
Whilst any new money is welcomed by local government, alongside the ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030, a competition where local authorities can bid to be one of five winners who will receive £100k a year for three years to come up with innovative ideas around active lifestyles and healthy eating, isn’t going to push back the tide on the problem when a tsunami of cuts is coming in the other direction and overwhelming public health initiatives; closing parks; forcing greenspace sell offs; and causing significant reductions in accessible sports and leisure facilities.
When Chancellor George Osborne delivered his budget to the House of Commons he openly stated that it was the beginning of an attempt to fundamentally rebalance the shape of the UK economy by reducing the role of the public sector in order to stimulate private endeavour. He then went on to outline a series of measures that the Institute for Fiscal Studies described as the most severe and sustained cuts to public services since the Second World War.