Councils all over the country understand how the quality of housing affects the health and wellbeing of their residents. Poor housing costs the NHS at least £2.5 billion a year in treating people with illnesses directly linked to living in cold, damp and dangerous homes.
This briefing for councillors and officers explains how behavioural change interventions – or nudge theory as it is dubbed – can help local authorities fulfil their public health responsibilities.
Public health will become the responsibility of local government when it transfers from the NHS to local authorities in April 2013. This publication for councillors and officers explains the challenges facing councils and the opportunities they have to tackle obesity and reduce health inequalities in local communities.
Public health has always been a key consideration for alcohol policy. However, until recently, health authorities had little or no input into the licensing process. This briefing aims to place health bodies' new role in alcohol licensing in a strategic context, and to provide guidance to those who will be delivering the responsible authority role.
