- Devon’s public health team brought in the LGA as a new combined county authority was formed for the wider region
- It was felt a perfect moment to harness the energy and creativity of the new organisation
- Health in all policies is now at the heart of the authority’s new approach and central to its corporate plan
The Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DTCCA) had just been created in early 2025 when Devon’s public health team turned to LGA for support. The combined authority brought together the county council and its districts along with Torbay Council to try to improve the region, which faces a host of issues around connectivity, affordability and access.
Devon Public Health Consultant Sara Gibbs said: “It felt like the perfect moment to step back and get some external support. A new organisation brings a new direction and energy and we wanted to make sure public health had a strong voice right from the start. We’ve been working on a health in all policies approach for some time, but there is still a tendency outside of public health to see health as something the NHS delivers - clinical care, hospitals, treatment - rather than something shaped by transport, housing, education or the economy.
“We knew we needed to influence thinking early, before structures and habits bedded in. A colleague previously arranged some Prevention Matters LGA training with members, which had been a really positive experience, so turning to the LGA again made complete sense to us. Having someone independent come in, challenge us and help us frame the opportunity was exactly what we needed at this stage.”
LGA expertise ‘spot on’
Two LGA experts were brought in to support the work. One was a former chief executive from Greater Manchester who had been directly involved in the development of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, bringing first hand experience of what it takes to shape a new organisation. The second was a housing specialist with deep knowledge of the pressures facing local areas.
Together, they carried out around a dozen one to one interviews with senior leaders across both councils - officers and members - before presenting their findings back to the public health teams. They stressed the scale of the work ahead and the importance of building strong relationships from the outset.
Sara said: “The expertise the LGA brought in was absolutely spot on – a perfect match for where we were. Having a former Manchester chief executive, someone who had lived through the combined authority process in Greater Manchester, meant we were getting insight from someone who genuinely understood the opportunities and the pitfalls.
“Then pairing that with a housing expert was invaluable. We have a real challenge with affordable housing and their perspective really helped shape the agenda at a crucial moment.”
This exercise was held ahead of four themed workshops held by the DTCCA on housing, transport, employment and skills, and business.
“It was really pleasing to see how strongly health in all policies came through in those workshops – and that has been demonstrated in the strategies and plans that have since been developed,” said Sara. “We now have a corporate plan, a transport plan and a housing plan and each one of them has health in all policies embedded in it. That’s a huge win.”
For example, the corporate plan highlights health in all policies as one of the key cross-cutting themes, stating how health is “shaped by the everyday conditions in which people live, work and move” and going on to say secure jobs, safe homes, and accessible transport are all essential building blocks of health and central to the work of the combined authority. It also promises to adopt the LGA’s health in all policies framework and incorporate health and wellbeing into all major strategies and investments decisions.
Sara added: “The aim is for health and equity to be properly incorporated into these plans in a way that will make a real difference. The way people are talking shows they genuinely get it – they’re really thinking about health, not as something separate, but as part of how the combined authority delivers on its core priorities.”
Target is tangible change
A second phase involving two workshops hosted by the two LGA experts is now in train. The first took place in spring 2026 and brought together around 30 officers from Torbay, Devon and the district councils, alongside key stakeholders from education, skills and training providers. The session focussed on how the combined authority and its wider partners could take forward the health in all policies approach in practical, system wide ways. A further workshop for members is planned for the future, once the implications of local government reorganisation are clearer.
“We’re now in active conversations with different departments about how we take this forward. The director of operations of the combined authority is keen for something tangible and that shift from the strategic to the practical is great to hear. It sets us a real challenge, but it’s exactly where we need to be.
“We’re looking at transport poverty, using data and intelligence to understand who is unable to access transport and what support could be put in place. On housing, we’re exploring how retrofit programmes can target action towards low income households living in poor quality housing. You can feel we’re moving in a different, stronger direction.”
DTCCA Director of Operations Sean Anstee is delighted with the progress being made. “By working collaboratively since the creation of the DTCCA, we have been able to embed health in all policies into our approach from the outset. This has enabled us to design our policies and operating model with health in all policies principles at their core, rather than applying them retrospectively. As a result, we are better positioned to demonstrate tangible impact from adopting this approach early on.”