Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce inequalities covering his public health functions for the whole population.

Reducing health inequalities is a Government priority, shown by our introduction of the first-ever set of health inequalities duties in the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.

Public health has a key role to play in reducing health inequalities across the whole population through ill health prevention and helping reduce premature, avoidable mortality. We transferred responsibility for improving public health from the National Health Service to local government to bring greater effectiveness and innovation in responding to local health needs. We provided local government with a ring-fenced grant of £5.36 billion.

At local level, Directors of Public Health will champion these health needs and work with local government, NHS colleagues and other sectors to address them.

We established Public Health England (PHE) to provide leadership, and to protect and improve the public’s health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. It supports action on health inequalities at local and national level by promoting good practice and building on the evidence of ‘what works.’

We have recently published Living Well for Longer (April 2014) which provides national support for local action on reducing premature mortality. It sets out what PHE and NHS England will do alongside the Department and the rest of Government to address avoidable and premature mortality across the population, including vulnerable groups such as those on low-income and those with mental illness.