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Saving money by appointing joint, junior or inexperienced leaders will undermine local public health Giving responsibility for public health to local authorities, together with a ring-fenced budget to manage it, is obviously the right thing to do. Councils used to have a role in health back in the 1970s; like many issues in public policy, the more things change the more they remain the same. Local authorities are well placed to manage public health because they can tailor strategies to local needs. Now Michael Marmot's work on the social determinants of health is so widely accepted, local authorities...

Changes to public health will increase the professional profile of public health and bring new career paths England's directors of public health now have a new employer: responsibility for the administration of public has been transferred from the NHS to local councils. The move, which was part of the government's health reforms, has not only brought a new paymaster, it is also creating career opportunities. Responsibility for social services has already been written into the job descriptions of some local authority public health directors, and it is predicted that other services like environmental...

There's much to commend Andy Burnham's vision, but sharing the cash pool won't achieve integration – it's a culture thing If there is one lesson that can be drawn from Andrew Lansley's health reforms, it is that anyone proposing a major shakeup of the NHS should be required to provide compelling and overwhelming evidence that it is the right thing to do. This is the lens through which the idea of shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham, to hand about £63bn of health service commissioning to local government should be judged. In a speech to the King's Fund on Thursday outlining...

Booklet aims to help new Healthwatch bodies and health and wellbeing boards to collaborate on NHS service delivery The Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) and the Local Government Association (LGA) have published a practical e-guide to help new independent health watchdogs collaborate on reform. Practical measures are set out for how councils' health scrutiny committees can work with new health and wellbeing boards and Local Healthwatch , which will represent the views of the public and people who use services on the new health and wellbeing boards set up by local authorities. Local Healthwatch...

Tweaking the planning system to emphasise the importance of public health could save money and lives The debate over Olympic legacy and the controversy over the sell-off of school playing fields have thrown into sharp relief the question of how we get people to be more active, whether in competitive sports or informally. The arguments seem to fall along a spectrum from the behavioural to the structural. On the one hand it's down to personal motivation and on the other that the way society and especially places are organised actually discourages physical activity. The structural issues revolve...

New analysis shows deteriorating health for children in six Olympic boroughs, says Bobbie Jacobson. It's time we properly monitored the Olympic legacy London 2012 gives us a unique opportunity to address the deep-seated inequalities that currently prevent children and young people in the six Olympic host boroughs from achieving their potential. Despite progress in some areas such as antenatal care, the health and life chances of children in these boroughs deteriorates significantly between early and teen years . One of the most important aspects of the games is to ensure that once the closing...

A lack of integration and splintered funding streams threaten care savings but social impact bonds offer councils hope Positive conversations about the opportunities presented by the public health reforms have quickly turned to discussions of funding shortfalls and the dangers of under-investment. If the graph of doom – a chart presenting the bleak funding picture for local authorities without any radical changes to the social care system – is to be avoided, local authorities need to find new ways of working with commissioners to make upfront investments in lifestyle change. Our Healthy Places...

Councillors have brought 65 NHS staff into the town hall to manage public health. We talk to the authority about its progress As councils prepare to take responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their communities for the first time since the 1970s, preventative health is emerging as the focal point of the government's health reforms. By 2013, all local authorities will become formally responsible for public health, everything from substance misuse to obesity and immunisation. One of the first councils to take big steps on public health is Surrey, which has already moved 65 NHS staff into...