The LGA is delivering a weekly lunch and learn series over the spring and summer to continue showcasing innovative best practice across the public health sector.
Following the LGA/ADPH Public Health Conference in February 2026, the LGA is delivering a weekly lunch and learn series over the spring and summer to continue showcasing innovative best practice across the sector. Sessions range from building healthy high streets, to the importance of play, to impactful approaches to coproduction and addressing inequalities.
Sessions will showcase real world examples from local government and partners. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss their own experiences, and will come away with practical tips and learning which they can implement in their own places.
Sessions will take place weekly on Thursdays at 12.00pm - 1.00pm, from 19 March.
Attendance is free. Find out more about each session and and register below:
This session brings together experts from Essex County Council, Anglia Ruskin University, and Bremner and Co to explore the national early years nutrition policy landscape, share findings from the Nourishing Our Future research, and bring the evidence to life through lived experience case studies that centre the voices of practitioners from early years settings across Essex.
The session will explore questions including:
- why does early years nutrition matter, and what can local government do to influence this agenda?
- how can councils collaborate across departments and sectors to create lasting change?
- what does coproduction look like in practice, and how can it drive real impact for children and families?
Presenters will share insights on the strategic and political context for early years nutrition, innovative and cross-disciplinary research methods, and how to translate findings into meaningful practice at scale. The session will conclude with a panel Q and A, offering attendees the opportunity to explore what these insights could mean for early years policy and practice in their own local area.
Join us for this LGA lunch and learn to hear about the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, which are vitally important for mental, physical and social development. The session will cover the Healthy Child Programme (HCP), an initiative developed by the UK Government which seeks to reach every child in the country and is a key way to promote healthy child development. You will also hear about the role of local authorities, which spend over £850 million on HCP delivery each year, and the importance of making best use of this investment and supporting the skilled professional workforce, including health visitors.
The session will also outline how, in England, every family is entitled to five free health and development reviews delivered by health visitors at distinct time points, from before birth until the child is aged 2.5 years. It will include learning from two NIHR PHIRST evaluations with local authorities that have added extra reviews to the core schedule – in Rotherham, where families are offered an additional sixth visit at three to four months, and in the London Borough of Camden, where families are offered eight visits in total - three more than the standard schedule.
The evaluations explored whether there are differences between families who take up visits and those who do not, including barriers to participation, as well as the impact on staff delivering additional visits and any impacts on child outcomes.
Speakers include:
- Lorna Quinn, Public Health Intelligence Principal, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (Chair)
- Nathan Davies, PHIRST Light team, University of Nottingham
- Sarah Janac, PHIRST Elevate team, University of Edinburgh
Join us for an engaging Lunch and Learn session to explore the role of local government in delivering the ambitions of the HIV Action Plan. With the goal of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030, councils are at the forefront of prevention, testing, and tackling inequalities, and this session will bring that into sharp focus.
We’re delighted to be joined by Professor Kevin Fenton, Chair of the HIV Action Plan Delivery Group, and James Woolgar, Chair of the English HIV & Sexual Health Commissioners Group. Kevin will share national and system-level perspectives, while James will provide insight from Liverpool and the Cheshire and Merseyside plan, alongside examples of how this is being delivered in practice locally.
The session will explore how local authorities and partners can translate national ambition into effective action: scaling up testing in community settings, strengthening partnerships across public health, the NHS and the voluntary sector, and addressing the wider determinants that drive unequal outcomes. Expect real-world examples, reflections on what’s working, and an honest look at the challenges still to overcome.
Whether you work in commissioning, strategy, or frontline services, this webinar will help you understand how your role contributes to the HIV Action Plan, and what more can be done locally to accelerate progress.
Bring your questions, your experiences, and your lunch.
Join us for a Lunch & Learn exploring the Royal College of Physicians’ (RCP) landmark report, Smoking, Health and Social Justice, and its implications for policy and practice.
Despite decades of progress, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the UK and is increasingly concentrated among people experiencing poverty, poor health and social exclusion. This session will explore how tobacco use continues to drive deep and persistent inequalities, accounting for around half of the gap in life expectancy between the most and least advantaged communities.
Professor Sanjay Agrawal, RCP's special adviser on tobacco, will guide us through the report’s key themes, including trends in smoking, the role of wider social and economic conditions, and the impact of commercial determinants of health. The session will be structured to allow time for reflection and discussion throughout, with opportunities to pause and explore key issues as we go.
We’ll also consider the report’s recommendations, such as expanding access to effective cessation support (including opt-out approaches across services) and better targeting support towards groups with the highest prevalence.
This is an opportunity to engage with the latest national thinking, reflect on what it means in practice, and discuss how different parts of the system can contribute to reducing smoking-related harm and inequalities.
As part of the LGA Public Health Lunch and Learn series, this session, led by The Food Foundation, will focus on how local councils can take a more coordinated and strategic approach to improving food environments. We will hear from a number of councils employing different, but equally impactful, joined-up, food systems approaches.
We will then open up the discussion to explore what frameworks can help bring together work across public health, procurement, planning, climate, and community development, supporting councils to move from isolated interventions towards a more systemic approach.
We will also explore how councils are designing and implementing these plans, how they align with wider local strategies, and how councils are working in partnership to turn plans into practical action.
Finally, we will test ideas around potential policy asks of national government to support long-term, embedded approaches to food at the local level, as set out in The Food Foundation’s call for a national Food Bill.
Speakers:
- Leon Ballin, Place-Based Food Systems Manager, The Food Foundation
- Alice English, Senior Project Officer, Local Food Systems, The Food Foundation
- Two councils taking differing, but effective, approaches to local food system change
Join the Health Foundation for an engaging and thought-provoking session exploring one of the most pressing challenges facing local government and public health leaders today: the stagnation and widening of inequalities in healthy life expectancy across the UK.
Drawing on their latest analysis, 'Healthy Life Expectancy Trends in the UK: A Watershed Moment', which was featured on the BBC, this session will unpack what the latest data tells us about where progress has stalled, and why this matters now more than ever. They will highlight emerging trends, regional disparities, and the implications for policy and practice at a local and regional level.
The session will bring to life the real-world impact of declining healthy life expectancy on communities, services, and economic resilience, and explore what can be done differently to reverse these trends.
Why attend?
- Gain fresh insights from the Health Foundation’s latest analysis
- Understand the drivers behind stalled and unequal health outcomes
- Explore the implications for local government decision-making and public health strategy
- Receive practical ideas and resources on how to take forward evidence-based action in your area
The Health Foundation is one of the largest independent charitable foundations in the UK. They spend around £50 million a year generating research and analysis, testing and evaluating innovations and bringing people together to improve policy and support the change needed to build a healthier UK. They are also a founding member and the funder of Health Equals, the campaign to reduce health inequalities.