Health grant of 1.8m misused by council

"The initial evidence that came to light was that some departments within the council were using the allocation for purposes that it hadn't been given for."

"It came as a shock that actually what we found in the end was that there was 1.8m of potential ineligible spend."

Barking and Dagenham Council identified roughly £1.8m of potential ineligible spending from a Department of Health and Social Care public health grant. The grant is ringfenced under the National Health Service Act 2006 for activities such as stop smoking schemes, illegal vape enforcement and diet and exercise programmes in schools. An independent 2024 review found multiple council departments had used some of the grant for purposes outside the ringfence. The council will cover the shortfall by finding equivalent money within its budget, and stricter controls have been introduced to govern grant use.

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