Local authorities’ public health responsibilities
18.23.1Since the 1 April 2014 local authorities have been responsible for improving the health of their local population and for public health services including most sexual health services and services aimed at reducing drug and alcohol misuse, although the Secretary of State for Health continues to have overall responsibility for improving health, with public health functions delegated to Public Health England.
18.23.2The primary legislation is found in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Broadly speaking, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 was designed to make the Secretary of State for Health responsible for health protection and upper tier and unitary authorities responsible for health improvement (although local authorities remain responsible for their existing health protection functions and there is provision in section 18, inserting a new section 6C into the National Health Service Act 2006) for the Secretary of State to delegate some additional health protection functions to local authorities).
18.23.3Section 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 inserts a new section 2B into the National Health Service Act 2006 to give each relevant local authority a new duty to take such steps as it considers appropriate to improve the health of the people in its area and to provide the Secretary of State for Health with health improvement powers:
Duties as to improvement of public health
12 After section 2A of the National Health Service Act 2006 insert‒
‘2B Functions of local authorities and Secretary of State as to improvement of public health
(1)Each local authority must take such steps as it considers appropriate for improving the health of the people in its area.
(2)The Secretary of State may take such steps as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for improving the health of the people of England.
(3)The steps that may be taken under subsection (1) or (2) include‒
(a)providing information and advice;
(b)providing services or facilities designed to promote healthy living (whether by helping individuals to address behaviour that is detrimental to health or in any other way);
(c)providing services or facilities for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness;
(d)providing financial incentives to encourage individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles;
(e)providing assistance (including financial assistance) to help individuals to minimise any risks to health arising from their accommodation or environment;
(f)providing or participating in the provision of training for persons working or seeking to work in the field of health improvement;
(g)making available the services of any person or any facilities.
(4)The steps that may be taken under subsection (1) also include providing grants or loans (on such terms as the local authority considers appropriate).
(5)In this section, ‘local authority’ means‒
(a)a county council in England;
(b)a district council in England, other than a council for a district in a county for which there is a county council;
(c)a London borough council;
(d)the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
(e)the Common Council of the City of London.’
18.23.4Section 30 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires upper tier and unitary local authorities, acting jointly with the Secretary of State for Health, to appoint as a statutory chief local authority officer a director of public health who, with his team, will be responsible for the local authority’s new public health functions.
18.23.5A useful explanation of the new responsibilities can be found in
The new public health role of local authorities1Department of Health, October 2012, www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213009/Public-health-role-of-local-authorities-factsheet.pdf. and
Local authorities’ public health responsibilities (England).
2House of Commons Library, 13 March 2014, at http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06844#fullreport.