News

Body-conscious gym and beauty fans are risking their health by taking dangerous and sometimes illegal drugs to improve their appearance in time for their summer holidays, councils warn today.

The number of 10 and 11-year-old children classed as severely obese - the most overweight scale - in the final year of primary school is nearly double that of those in reception, new analysis by the Local Government Association reveals today.

The Government has announced an extra £20 billion for the NHS, but is now taking vital money away from the services which can be used to prevent illness and the need for treatment later down the line.

Responding to today’s written ministerial statement confirming a cut to councils’ public health grants, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, Cllr Izzi Seccombe

Councils are urging residents to keep an eye on vulnerable or elderly family and friends and help save lives as the nation heads outside to bask in the sunshine. 

People are being urged to ensure vulnerable friends, neighbours and relatives are safe when the big freeze bites, with a high chance of snow and ice in parts of the country.

​​​​​​​The Local Government Association (LGA) and the Health Foundation are inviting local authorities to bid for the new ‘Shaping Places for Healthier Lives’ scheme, which will look to support and promote innovative ways of tackling health inequalities by improving the conditions of where people are born, grow, live, and age in their local areas.

Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, responds to annual adult substance misuse treatment statistics for 2018/19, published by Public Health England.

"Councils can help the Government to achieve its ambition of eliminating smoking in England by 2030, but need adequate long-term funding and certainty for their public health services to help do so."

“Smoking rates continue to fall, which is good news, but as this report highlights there needs to be greater help for those most in need of support, including routine and manual workers or people with mental health conditions."