Hannah Davies, Health Inequalities Lead for the Northern Health Science Alliance, said: “The fact that almost £1 in every £7 cut from public health services has come from England’s 10 most deprived communities – compared to just £1 in every £46 in the country’s 10 least deprived places should be a source of national outcry.

“The North is massively disproportionately affected by this with the six most deprived areas in the country identified in this IPPR report in the North of England.

“Research earlier this year demonstrated that half of the North has worse health outcomes that the worst area in the South and this research hammers that point home.

“And yet the benefits of tackling the health inequalities to the entire UK are not to be under-estimated, the Northern Health Science Alliance’s Health for Wealth report demonstrated an extra £13.2bn would be added to the UK economy each year if the North’s health was brought up to that of the rest of the country.

“Tackling health inequalities takes a full-system approach across the NHS, local government, charities and third sector which must be properly funded. The Northern Health Science Alliance backs the IPPR’s recommendation to reverse cuts to public health budgets and to reform the funding formula.”