THE Royal College of Nursing says dire warnings it issued last year about a £200 million cut by the Government to public health budgets are being borne out by savings Darlington Borough Council is seeking to make.

Drastic cuts in public health, contained in so-called budget cut assessment forms prepared by council officers and seen by The Northern Echo, include cancelling the Healthy Darlington Hub, based at the town’s Dolphin Centre, the Move More Team and the School Sports Partnership Programme.

Stopping all three programmes, which work to prevent and reduce obesity in adults and children and to engage them in an active and sporting lifestyle, will eventually save £509,172 a year and lead to 14 job losses, plus sports coaches.

But it could put at risk future investment from Sport England – which contributed £1.2 million to support sport and physical activity in Darlington between 2012 and 2015 – and could mean the loss of a recent award by the Football Foundation of £420,000 towards a community football development programme at Eastbourne Sports Complex.

It is also likely to mean a significant impact on the NHS locally with the number of people referred for clinical interventions and treatments for obesity set to increase.

The council also aims to end its contributions to BALANCE, the regional office for the reduction of alcohol harm and FRESH, its regional counterpart which campaigns to reduce smoking rates.

In the case of FRESH the authority will save £29,401 a year by not renewing its contract when the current agreement it has runs out after March 2017.

Council officers admit this will adversely impact quit rates among pregnant smokers in Darlington, already among the highest in the country.

The sexual health GUM service, which offers STI advice, testing and treatment along with contraceptive advice and treatment via a consultant led clinic at Darlington Memorial Hospital, will see its funding from the council cut by £26,980 over the next five years.

The drug, alcohol and tobacco commissioning team, a specialist team which runs local campaigns and provides services for people who misuse drugs and alcohol, will be closed with the loss of four jobs.

The council is also proposing to serve notice on the contract it has with the Tees Valley Public Health Share Service, a shared arrangement with all the Tees Valley local authorities which provides specialist public health advice. This would save £206,327 a year.

Two services which aim to support people with low level mental health issues are also being hit. The Arts on Prescription Service, delivered at the Bridge Visual Arts Centre on Yarm Road, and Living Mindfully are proposed to lose funding amounting to £67,000 and £21,750.

This will mean they will close, affecting the 210 people a year referred to them. Councillors are warned this could lead to an increase in self-harming hospital admissions.

Jake Turnbull, the RCN’s Northern regional spokesman, said: “When central Government first announced the £200 million cut to public health budgets in June 2015, the RCN warned that it would have a disproportionate effect on the most disadvantaged communities in the country.

“Our warnings are being borne out today.”

Mr Turnbull said Darlington had some “incredibly challenging health inequalities” with regards to life expectancy, while cancer and cardio vascular diseases accounted for about 65 per cent of early or premature deaths – smoking being the biggest single contributor.

He added: “These cuts will only make the situation worse. We are not blaming councils for this — they have been put in an impossible position.

“The fact is that until a couple of years ago, the public health budget sat within the Department of Health budget, but it was transferred to local authorities in the full knowledge that it would be local governments that would have to deliver the cuts going forward.”