News

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.

“These trailblazer councils have been chosen to help develop, deliver, review and expand their innovative plans to tackle this epidemic at a local level, which can then be shared with their peers more widely."

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 sale of cheap, illegal tobacco by rogue traders in shops, private homes and through social media is funding organised criminal gangs and damaging legitimate traders, as well as making it easier for young people to get hooked on smoking, which undermines councils’ efforts to help people quit."

The Childhood Obesity Trailblazer Programme sees 13 local authorities from across the country shortlisted from a total of 102 applications to trial new approaches in their communities, with a particular focus on reducing the ‘deprivation gap’.

“What is needed is a universal adoption of a labelling system which provides an instant ‘at-a-glance’ understanding of sugar content."

Cllr Nick Forbes, Senior Vice Chair of the Local Government Association, responds to analysis from Diabetes UK showing that less than half of people eligible for an NHS Health Check in the last five years have received one.