Briefings and responses

Consultation response from the Local Government Association (LGA)

These FAQs are not an exhaustive list. We will continue to add new questions and answers as and when they arise.

The LGA welcomes the Government’s announcement of the first-ever Men’s Health Strategy for England. Men face significantly higher rates of serious health conditions and premature death compared to women.

On 3 July, the Government launched a new 10 Year Health Plan, which is summarised in this briefing. It draws out the key points relevant to local government and sets out our immediate LGA response.

Obesity continues to be a key public health challenge for both councils and wider public finances. It is estimated that the NHS spends £6.5 billion on obesity-related health care each year, whilst the cost to wider society is estimated to be £27 billion per year. Under a backdrop of public health grant reductions, councils have spent over £1billion tackling child and adult obesity since responsibility for public health transferred to councils in 2013.

These FAQs are not an exhaustive list. We will continue to add new questions and answers as and when they arise.

The LGA welcomes increased funding in the short-term, but we also urge the Government to set out a long-term sustainable funding plan for public health as part of the Spending Review.

Councils are key to identifying and addressing the social factors that may influence a person’s mental health. Such as between health inequalities, protected characteristics, socioeconomic deprivation, and poor mental health, however, resources limit the work that councils can do.

Obesity and diet-related health issues are one of the biggest public health challenges we face, with the cost of treating obesity-related ill health forecast to rise to £9.7 billion a year by 2050.

The LGA believes this is a progressive piece of legislation that would undoubtedly impact on smoking prevalence and ultimately reduce rates of smoking-related disease.