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Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responds to new figures, published today by Public Health England, showing a 44 per cent decline in the number of people in England with tuberculosis between 2011-2018.

"Local health protection teams have reached 99.1 per cent of contacts who were asked to self-isolate, compared to 59 per cent of close contacts managed either online or by call centres."

“It remains extremely worrying that with infection rates and deaths from coronavirus continuing to increase during this lockdown, the test and trace system is still only picking up six out of every ten contacts of people who tested positive."

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, responds to Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock’s speech today that Public Health England is to be replaced with the National Institute for Health Protection.

"The launch of the NHS COVID-19 app will help residents, visitors and businesses, along with the councils which support them, to keep track of and isolate future outbreaks."

"Everyone agrees that prevention is better than cure. Any move to help make our residents be happier and healthier is encouraging and councils look forward to working with the new Office for Health Promotion."

“Public health teams in councils have been at the forefront of the tremendous local response to the pandemic and we look forward to working with the new UK Health Security Agency.”

“The Government should ensure that local outbreak management plans can be stepped up if required if there is a re-emergence of the virus and that all partners are sufficiently resourced to make this happen."

“Councils are ideally placed to lead on social prescribing and tackling loneliness in partnership with voluntary sector organisations, and this funding will help them deliver these vital services."

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responds to the Lord Darzi Review of Health and Care (interim report), published by the Institute for Public Policy Research.