Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the establishment of the National Institute for Health Protection, which public body will be responsible for the delivery of prevention and early intervention programmes (1) to tackle obesity, (2) to encourage smoking cessation, and (3) to address health inequalities.

Prevention of ill-health remains a top priority. The Government will continue its focus on health improvement and preventing ill-health, with support from the expert teams who currently sit in Public Health England (PHE), who will continue their excellent work. We are not envisaging any changes to where those responsibilities will sit until spring 2021. We will be consulting with staff and engaging with an external stakeholder advisory group on where PHE’s health improvement functions would be best placed in order to support the public health system in our aim to increase healthy life expectancy.