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Local Government
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Last modified date:14 August 2007
The Government is encouraging and supporting local authorities to improve the health of their communities and to tackle health inequalities. Local authorities working in effective partnership with the NHS, other public sector bodies and the private, voluntary and community sectors is seen as crucial to tackling the health problems in their areas.
Local Strategic Partnerships
The NHS Plan stated the commitment that the NHS will support the establishment of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), with Shifting the Balance of Power: Next Steps setting out the expectation that primary care trusts (PCTs) will engage fully in LSPs and other community based health and care initiatives.
A LSP is a single body that brings together at a local level the different parts of the public sector as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors so that different initiatives and services support each other and work together.
Locally, LSPs are central to tackling health inequalities. There is no blueprint for how LSPs should co-ordinate their approach as this will depend on local needs and priorities. All LSPs have sub-groups or thematic partnerships (often referred to as the LSP family of partnerships) which are responsible for effective targeting of resources to the neediest communities.
LSPs allow the various partners to work together to reshape their services to narrow the health gap locally, consistent with their own responsibilities.
Local Area Agreements
A Local Area Agreement (LAA) is a three year agreement that sets out the priorities for a local area agreed between central government and a local area, represented by the local authority and Local Strategic Partnership. The agreement is made up of outcomes, indicators and targets aimed at delivering a better quality of life for people through improving performance on a range of national and local priorities. Although still early days, Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are already bringing health inequalities and public health into the forefront of local community planning and demonstrating the co-delivery role described for local government in Choosing Health. LAAs from 21 pilot areas received ministerial sign-off for delivery from April 2005.
Communities for Health (C4H)
The Communities for Health (C4H) chief objective is to identify and promote local projects that engage communities - especially hard-to-reach groups - in improving their own health, thereby helping to reducing health inequalities in this country. The programme also acts as a vehicle for testing new, innovative initiatives that cut across local government and health partnerships, especially those that actively involve Local Area Agreements.
25 localities from across the country are already committed to the C4H programme and rollout to other areas is on track to begin in April 2006.
This year (2005/06) so far, 23 projects totalling some £380,000 have been approved, with a further 31 projects totalling £730,000 under consideration.
All C4H Projects demonstrate a strong commitment to engaging local communities; they have also covered a wide range of policy themes outlined in Choosing Health.
Other Government Departments and NGOs, such as the LGA and NHS Confederation are working with the DH through an Advisory Group set up specifically to give advice on the development of the C4H Programme.
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