Public health and housing

Tackling health inequalities and promoting health and wellbeing are key Government objectives. Local authorities have, since 1 April 2013, been responsible for improving the health of their local population. Directors of Public Health now work for their local council and support the Health and Wellbeing.

From this year, Directors of Public Health will work for their local council and support the Health and Wellbeing Boards in preparing the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), supported by a new national body Public Health England.

The resources on these pages are split into two sub-topics:

• Public health policy - resources that describe the policy background and new structures behind public health reform. A new national body called Public Heath England will be in place from April 2013 to provide expert advice and a paper on its role and responsibilities is included on these pages.
• Health gain - resources that suggest how housing providers and commissioners can work with colleagues in public health to ensure that housing is central to local plans for health and wellbeing. Evidence of heath gain linked to housing is provided that can be used to influence public health discussions as well as databases and tools to create local profiles.