CHANCELLOR George Osborne has been urged to reverse swingeing cuts to local authority public health budgets amid fears they could lead to earlier deaths.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said Mr Osborne should drop plans to take about £200m from councils when he announces the Government's comprehensive spending review next month.

If a blanket cut is imposed as feared, before the end of the 2015/16 financial year more than £16m could be lost from Public Health Grants paid to local authorities in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Last summer the Department of Health began a consultation with councils over the move in order to explore options for implementing the reduction.

However, the results of the consultation have yet to be published, even at this late stage, although the department has said the £200m savings figure will not change.

Indicative cash reductions would see County Durham lose £3.142m and Middlesbrough £1.102m.

Meanwhile, Darlington would lose £521,000. Recently, the town's Conservative Party leader Councillor Heather Scott said a blanket cut was wrong and would have a "disastrous effect especially on this part of this world".

And GP Andrea Jones, chairman of Darlington's Clinical Commissioning Group, said the proposals were a "ticking timebomb" and would mean earlier deaths.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman told The Northern Echo: "This will hit Darlington and other areas in the North-East hard.

"George Osborne has got this wrong, these cuts will cripple vital services such as help to quit smoking, mental health care, and contraception services.

"He’s being penny wise and pound foolish. These cuts store up expensive problems for the future."

The RCN, which has signed a joint protest letter to the Chancellor organised by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said analysis by the Faculty of Public Health showed the knock on effect to the NHS could be in excess of £1bn.

Other services affected could include school nursing and other child health services, drug and alcohol services, weight loss support and befriending services for older people.

Speaking exclusively to the Echo, RCN Northern regional director Sarah Dodsworth said: “It is no good for the Government to say they are protecting the budget for the NHS, but then make huge cuts to council-run health services which are there to keep people well and out of hospital.

“These plans will also disproportionately hit poorer communities in harder to reach areas and will make health inequalities worse.

"The RCN is aware of increasing concerns about the prevalence of health inequalities within rural communities and that current funding arrangements unfairly affect rural communities.

“If the Government really wants to put prevention at the heart of health care then the Chancellor should think again and withdraw these damaging proposals when he announces the spending review in November.”

In Stockton, where men living in deprived parts of the town centre have a life expectancy of 16 years less than those living in nearby Eaglescliffe - the biggest such gap in the country - the council could lose £1m from its public health budget.

The council's cabinet member for adult services and health, Councillor Jim Beall (correct) said: "It is of grave concern and I fear the result would be to heap greater pressure on services at our local hospital."

A spokesman for Middlesbrough Council said it faced considerable long term public health challenges and viewed cuts to funding with considerable concern.

He added: "For Middlesbrough to face the same levels of funding reduction as more affluent areas is unfair and will have a detrimental impact."

A Hartlepool Council spokesman said it still didn't know what its proposed reduction would be and it was continuing to lobby vigorously to receive a fair level of funding.

In North Yorkshire the council could lose £1.38m from its budget which it said would mean new public health initiatives being scaled back.

A Government spokesman said it had increased the NHS budget by £10bn and made sure that the Public Health Grant could only be spent on public health activity after it emerged last year that some councils were "top slicing" the cash to spend on related services.

He said: "Difficult decisions need to be made across Government to reduce the deficit and ensure the sustainability of our public services.

"The Department of Health has consulted with local authorities and other stakeholders on how these savings should be applied and will be publishing their response shortly."

INDICATIVE CASH REDUCTIONS TO PUBLIC HEALTH BUDGETS FOR 2015/16 (£000s)

County Durham 3,142;

Darlington 521;

Gateshead 1,044;

Hartlepool 573;

Middlesbrough 1,102;

Newcastle 1,491;

North Yorkshire 1,380;

North Tyneside 774;

Northumberland 986;

Redcar 800;

South Tyneside 887;

Stockton-on-Tees 1,000;

Sunderland 1,475.