Building Healthier Communities: The Case for Investing in Public Health
Explore how targeted, community-based public health strategies can improve lives, reduce NHS pressure, and deliver cost savings for local authorities.
Councils faced with ‘astronomical’ children’s homes costs
29/05/2025 The number of children’s home placements costing over £500,000 annually has dramatically increased over the last five years, council chiefs warn. |
Think tank calls for early intervention for children’s mental health issues
19/05/2025 Children with mental health issues are facing long-term health conditions and employment barriers, says new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). |
New remotely lockable cabinet will help manage medication for people with mental health issues
22/04/2025 New remotely lockable cabinet will help manage medication for people with mental health issues, according to the UK’s leading medication support company PAMAN. |
Swindon barbers to help boost mental health support
16/04/2025 Swindon Borough Council urges local barbers to engage with a new training programme designed to improve and destigmatise mental health issues amongst men. |
Mental health services under resourced and overwhelmed
13/03/2025 A lack of support means people struggling with mental health issues are caught in a ‘damaging cycle’ of re-admittance to mental health services, says CQC. |
Hundreds of children forced ‘out of area’ for mental health care
10/02/2025 Hundreds of children are forced to travel out of their local area for mental health treatment, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP). |
Children stuck in limbo amid delays for mental health support
05/02/2025 Young people seeking mental health support are not getting the help they need, according to a new survey. |
Children's mental health crisis costs over £1tn
05/02/2025 The failure to tackle the children's mental health crisis costs the UK over £1tn in lifetime lost earnings, researchers focusing on mental health warn. |
Council commits £6.2m per year to long-term mental health funding
23/01/2025 Oxfordshire County Council has committed £6.2m each year for the next 10 years to a pooled budget for mental health services. |
Ombudsman: Decision to move man in his final days caused ‘distress’
16/01/2025 Essex County Council’s decision to move a man with dementia away from his wife during the final weeks of his life caused ‘avoidable distress’, an ombudsman has said. |
Social worker safety put at risk by policy changes
03/12/2024 Policy changes reducing police presence at mental health incidents are putting the safety of social workers at risk, a charity and university have warned. |
Government to create first ever men’s health strategy
28/11/2024 The Government has committed to creating the first strategy for men’s health – something council bosses have been calling for. |
Data map reveals ‘stark disparities’ in children’s mental health
07/11/2024 Local government policymakers have been urged to take immediate action after a data map revealed ‘stark disparities’ in children’s mental health across UK. |
New scheme aims to improve mental health of flood-risk communities
04/11/2024 A ‘trailblazing’ project has launched to improve the mental health of communities at risk of flooding in West Yorkshire. |
Many children not getting the right support, care regulator warns
25/10/2024 Many children and young people are not currently getting the support they need, England’s health and social care regulator has warned. |
Council destroys belongings of missing tenant
25/10/2024 East Riding of Yorkshire Council destroyed the belongings of an elderly tenant who went missing after banning his family from entering his flat. |
Mother fleeing abuse forced to live in mixed-sex B&B
10/10/2024 A mother fleeing abuse was forced to live in accommodation so unsuitable her disabled child would soil themselves rather than use the shared bathroom. |
School attendance scheme gets £15m boost
10/10/2024 The Government is set to spend £15m expanding an attendance mentoring scheme to 10,000 more children in England. |
LGA: ‘Emergency cash injection’ needed to tackle child abuse
08/10/2024 Local authority leaders have called for emergency support for children’s social care as figures reveal councils investigate 600 child protection cases a day. |
Supported housing ‘on a knife edge’
20/09/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to boost spending on supported housing and consider a ring-fenced fund in next month’s Budget. |
Darzi review: ‘Extraordinary power in getting public health right’
12/09/2024 The Government must invest in public health to ease pressure on a health service ‘in critical condition’, according to a damning new review of the NHS. |
Manchester adopts Finnish housing scheme in UK first
12/09/2024 A housing scheme said to have significantly reduced homelessness in Finland is set to become a ‘guiding philosophy’ in Greater Manchester after a successful pilot. |
Martin Lewis: Councils collect unpaid tax like ‘worst loan sharks’
10/09/2024 Consumer finance expert Martin Lewis has criticised the ‘grotesque’ methods authorities use to recover council tax and urged the Government to change the law on debt collection. |
Council bosses call for men’s health strategy
27/08/2024 The ‘silent health crisis’ facing men in England should be a national concern, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said. |
King's Speech: Waiting lists, prevention and mental health top health agenda
17/07/2024 Reducing waiting times, prevention and improving mental health provision topped Labour's agenda in today's King's Speech but there were no social care reforms. |
Warwickshire staff miss 15,000 days due to poor mental health
21/06/2024 Poor mental health was the biggest reason for sickness absence at Warwickshire County Council last year, a report has revealed. |
New £64m WorkWell pilot programme announced
08/05/2024 The Government has announced a new £64m pilot programme called WorkWell to assist individuals with long-term health issues rejoin the workforce. |
Ministers propose disability benefits overhaul amid ‘spiralling’ costs
30/04/2024 Plans to overhaul the disability benefits system and ‘deliver better value for the taxpayer’ have been laid out by the Government. |
Two-fifths of children face barriers to education
26/04/2024 Millions of pupils are struggling to learn because of unstable family environments, mental health challenges and poor attendance, a major children’s charity has warned. |
Seven areas selected for £45m child protection trial
11/04/2024 Seven more areas in England have been selected to trial the Families First for Children (FFC) scheme, a £45m child protection programme. |
Essex council agrees to rethink alternative education changes
04/04/2024 Essex CC agrees to investigate why changes to its alternative education provision for children who are unable to attend school have not improved the service. |
Mental illness costs England £300bn a year
27/03/2024 The cost of mental ill health in England was £300bn in 2022, according to new research. |
Council criticised after teacher harassed for Muhammad cartoon
25/03/2024 Kirklees Council demonstrated a ‘lack of consideration’ towards a teacher who faced harassment for showing a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad, advisor says. |
Twenty-four mental health hubs announced
28/02/2024 Twenty-four early support hubs are set to be rolled out in local communities across the country to provide mental health support for young people. |
Scotland’s public services ‘crumbling’
19/02/2024 Scots have observed worsening poverty and public services are failing to address social problem, according to a new report. |
Warning over suicide prevention fund end
19/02/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) is urging the Government to extend funding for suicide prevention projects in the Spring Budget. |
Emergency mental healthcare referrals for children up 50%
07/02/2024 Psychiatrists call for more support for young people as an analysis reveals the number of children referred for emergency mental healthcare has increased 50%. |
North Northants fined £1,500 after girl misses school
26/01/2024 The leader of North Northamptonshire Council has apologised to the family of a girl who missed part of her education because of her health. |
New £1.5m package to support school leaders launched
15/01/2024 The Government has announced a new £1.5m package to help support the mental health and wellbeing of school and college leaders. |
Government falling 'woefully short' on supported housing
10/11/2023 Vulnerable people are increasingly provided with poor quality supported housing and suffer ‘significant, detrimental’ impacts due to inadequate support, a report has found. |
Barriers to support impacting carers’ mental health
02/11/2023 Unpaid carers are not receiving adequate support from statutory services and their mental health is suffering as a result, Carers UK has found. |
Councils 'vital' to social prescribing success
09/10/2023 Children’s charity Barnardo’s has said local authorities are ‘vital’ to the success of social prescribing as it called for a national strategy. |
Care workers in Wales feel undervalued, poll reveals
05/10/2023 Social care workers in Wales feel undervalued by the public and underpaid for the work they do, a new survey has revealed. |
Mental health services ‘under increasing pressure’
26/09/2023 Council leaders have called for long term funding for mental health services in response to a study that warns the prevalence of depression is set to increase. |
Call for national mental health support team rollout
21/09/2023 A top children’s services director has called for the ‘very highly regarded’ mental health support teams (MHST) model to be rolled out across the country. |
Council apologises after man with dementia left unsupported
08/09/2023 Calderdale Council has apologised after a man with a rapidly progressing form of dementia was left in unsuitable hotel accommodation for too long. |
Council hiring mental health officer following high suicide rates
31/08/2023 Essex County Council is hiring a public mental health and suicide prevention officer with an advertised salary of up to £37,357. |
Hundreds of Valium prescriptions to be reviewed
23/08/2023 Hundreds of vulnerable people with drug and alcohol dependencies who have been prescribed Valium are set to have their cases reviewed following investigation. |
Sandwell Council fails resident with depression
09/08/2023 Sandwell Council failed to consider a resident’s vulnerabilities during an anti-social behaviour case despite multiple reminders, Housing Ombudsman has found. |
Health backing for police withdrawal delay
08/08/2023 Senior healthcare figures have backed councils’ demand to delay police withdrawal from non-urgent mental health callouts. |
Councils chosen for family-focussed social care trials
27/07/2023 The Government has announced the councils that will test two new children’s social care programmes, which aim to support families through early help. |
LGA: police mental health withdrawal too quick
26/07/2023 Council chiefs have raised concerns that plans for police to stop attending mental health incidents are ‘being rolled out too quickly’. |
Holyrood announces £3.2m fund to tackle loneliness
25/07/2023 More than 50 projects that are tackling social isolation and loneliness in Scotland have received a share of a new multi-million-pound fund. |
Disadvantaged women in North East dying early
10/07/2023 Disadvantaged women in the North East are dying prematurely as public services are failing to meet their needs, according to a new report. |
More councillors feel at risk of abuse
06/07/2023 The number of local councillors who have reported feeling at risk in their role due to abuse and intimidation has increased in the last year, LGA finds. |
Mental health care teams to support homeless launched
12/06/2023 Fourteen towns with high rates of homelessness are set to benefit from new NHS mental health care teams, NHS England today announced. |
MPs back campaign to ban handcuffing children in care
05/06/2023 Several MPs are backing a campaign to scrap legislation that allows children in care to be handcuffed when they are transported between premises. |
Council criticised after safeguarding failure
02/06/2023 Tandridge DC failed in its duties towards a resident with poor mental health under the Equality Act and its own safeguarding policy, ombudsman finds. |
Making communities dementia friendly
01/06/2023 To ensure our communities are inclusive, it is important that all places are dementia friendly, writes Ailidh Aikman, Dementia Services Development Centre. |
Councils 'not ready' for Met's mental health withdrawal
30/05/2023 Councils are not ready for the consequences of the Metropolitan Police Services’ decision to withdraw from non-emergency mental health callouts, experts warn. |
Opportunities missed to help man who died of starvation
15/05/2023 A man with severe mental health problems died alone weighing four and a half stone after opportunities to help him were missed, a review of the case found. |
Many council areas face ‘nature access gap’, study reveals
02/05/2023 In a third of local authority areas more than 70% of households don’t have access to nature within a 15-minute walk, new research finds. |
Gambling reforms ‘vague’, public health directors say
27/04/2023 The Government’s gambling reforms are ‘vague’ and ‘disappointing’, according to the representative body for directors of public health. |
‘Shocking’ number of children in care far from home
25/04/2023 A ‘shocking’ number of children are being moved into care far from their communities, according to a campaigning charity. |
Legal threat forces Devon CC to halt care cuts
17/04/2023 Devon County Council will halt its plans to cut adult day and respite services after the mental health charity Mencap threatened to take legal action. |
Health of over 2.5m young people affected by poor housing
17/04/2023 Many young people are suffering physically and mentally because of poor quality housing, according to poverty campaigners. |
Children in youth custody face ‘tension and paranoia’
29/03/2023 Children as young as 10 in youth custody are facing ‘palpable tension and paranoia’, according to an official report. |
How neurodiversity relates to planning and development
14/03/2023 James Sackley of Boyer argues that it is important to consider neurodiversity during the planning process. |
Waiting times for children’s mental health services on the rise
08/03/2023 Average waiting times between children being referred to mental health services and starting treatment are increasing for the first time in years, data shows. |
Hull City Council asks residents if they are happy
06/03/2023 Hull City Council has launched a survey of residents to find out if they are happy. |
Family hubs receive £300m boost
09/02/2023 Thousands of parents and children are set to benefit from a £300m investment in family hubs across England, the Government today announced. |
Mental health services need funding ‘clarity’
09/02/2023 Local authority leaders have called for ‘clarity’ over funding for mental health services as demand outstrips the level of funds available. |
How councils can support children's mental health
06/02/2023 To mark Children’s Mental Health Week, Dr Anna Harris of Coram looks at how councils can support wellbeing and help mental health services. |
Woman with schizophrenia lay dead in council flat for four years
27/01/2023 Surrey County Council has committed to taking a full part in the inquest into a woman with schizophrenia who was found dead in her flat after four years. |
Mental health emergency services to receive £150m
23/01/2023 Patients experiencing a mental health emergency will soon be able to benefit from 150 new facilities dedicated to supporting mental health urgent care. |
Roll-out of school mental health support teams could save £1.8bn
16/01/2023 The urgent roll-out of Mental Health Support Teams across schools in England could provide a ‘significant’ cost saving for the public sector, charity says. |
Social prescribing support receives £3.6m boost
23/12/2022 More than £3.6m of Government funding has been awarded to the National Academy of Social Prescribing to support mental health and wellbeing. |
Poor health 'undermining UK economy' think tank warns
08/12/2022 Mental health problems are the most common reason for people being unable to work new research has revealed. |
Children from violent homes to receive mental health support
05/12/2022 Children who have been affected by abuse are set to get automatic access to mental health services regardless of whether they were present during violence. |
Council chiefs call for ‘sustainable’ mental health funding
02/12/2022 Local council leaders have called for long term funding to help support mental health services as health leaders warn these services are ‘being left to fail’. |
Charity blasts ‘failing’ mental health system
30/11/2022 A charity has criticised what it describes as a ‘failing’ mental health system as figures show that one in six children are struggling. |
Children’s health experts warn of pandemic’s ‘lasting impact’
23/11/2022 The majority of professionals say they are seeing an ongoing negative impact on babies’ and young children’s social skills due to the COVID pandemic. |
Record number of children seeking help from councils for mental health problems
14/11/2022 The number of children with mental health problems being seen by social workers has reached record levels, new analysis has revealed. |
Council apologises after teenage suicide
29/09/2022 West Sussex County Council has apologised for failing to provide the right level of support to a teenage boy who has died after a suicide attempt. |
Support for county lines victims gets £5m boost
26/09/2022 Services aimed at supporting victims of county lines gangs received a multi-million-pound bump over the weekend. |
Glasgow council extends paid leave to cover miscarriages
02/09/2022 Glasgow City Council employees who suffer a miscarriage will now get paid leave, the local authority has announced. |
Funding for mental health support under threat
31/08/2022 Local authorities are being forced to divert early intervention mental health funding towards services under more immediate pressure, council chiefs warn. |
Councils receive £6m supported housing boost
04/08/2022 Four local authorities have been given a £6m boost to help support vulnerable tenants living in supported housing. |
‘Parallel pandemic’ of mental ill health cost North £2bn
25/07/2022 The number of mental ill health cases in the North of England were much higher during the pandemic than in any other part of the country and cost £2bn. |
One in five children worried about mental health
07/07/2022 The Children’s Commissioner has unveiled six ambitions for supporting children as one in five children say that they are worried about their mental health. |
Seven in 10 councillors face abuse, survey reveals
30/06/2022 Council leaders are calling for a change in legislation to allow councillors to withhold their personal addresses as evidence of abuse and intimidation grows. |
Javid announces £150m for mental health crisis support
27/06/2022 A multi-million-pound investment will help people experiencing a mental health emergency get access to more crisis houses and safe havens, Government says. |
Over 300,000 people living with undiagnosed dementia
17/05/2022 Improving early diagnosis for the hundreds of thousands of people with dementia could lead to over £3bn in savings through lower carer costs, report says. |
Loneliness-related mental health problems impact vulnerable communities
16/05/2022 Disparities in local funding mean that vulnerable citizens are lacking access to social resources that might provide mental health support, study reveals. |
Mental health support in schools to get £7m boost
12/05/2022 The Department for Education today announced a further £7m for schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead. |
Queen’s Speech: Mental health laws to be overhauled
10/05/2022 Government will reform mental health laws to make it harder to detain people and to stop the disproportionate use of the laws against BAME communities. |
Mental health impacted by decline in green space
05/05/2022 Green space provision around housing developments has dramatically declined over the last century with negative consequences for mental health, research finds. |
Experts warn of spike in COVID-related mental health problems
25/04/2022 Adults are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of the pandemic on their mental health as one third say their mental health has got worse. |
Call for evidence on new 10-year mental health plan
12/04/2022 A call for evidence to inform a new 10-year mental health plan has been launched today by the Government. |
New guidance to help tackle 'traumatic' mistakes in aftercare of mental health in-patients
11/04/2022 New guidance to help prevent councils and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) from making common mistakes in the aftercare of mental health in-patients has been published. |
