Proposals for major reform are outlined in the 'Equity & Excellence: Liberating the NHS' White Paper. This paper is one of a suite of policy papers that will shape the future of health and social care. The plans are for a radical shift in responsibilities including:

• The devolvement of budgets for some £70bn of health to GP commissioning consortia from 2013.
• The abolition of SHAs and PCTs
• A new NHS commissioning Board to oversee the allocation of resources across the new system.
• The transfer of public health and health improvement responsibilities from PCTs to local authorities
• Directors of Public Health being jointly appointed by local authorities and a new Public Health service.
• Health & Wellbeing Boards to be set up in all local authority areas at first tier level.

The Department of Health has recently announced that it will support the setting up of Shadow Health & Wellbeing Boards in a number of areas to test out the approach.

At the moment the future status and governance arrangements for these boards remains uncertain but should be clarified shortly in Government's response to the consultation exercise.

Under coalition government proposals, local authorities will take on lead responsibility for Joint Strategic Needs Assessments.

In October, Andrew Lansley announced a ‘pathfinder' programme to enable GPs to test different design concepts.

District Councils will have an important role in feeding into Health & Wellbeing Boards on health related issues such as planning future settlements, housing, leisure, the environment and the spatial level at which commissioning consortia become established.

The Health Bill providing the statutory framework for the reforms has been delayed until the New Year, because of the huge response received by the Department of Health to the consultation.

It is taken for granted that the more individuals and local communities are empowered and involved in health improvement/tackling health inequalities, the greater likelihood of long term success. ‘Liberating the NHS' has less to say about citizen involvement in improving health outcomes as these have greater prominence in the latest White Paper ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People' published on 30 November 2010. This sets out the Government's long-term vision for the future of public health in England. The aim is to create a ‘wellness' service (Public Health England) and to strengthen both national and local leadership.

See http://www.eastmidlandsiep.gov.uk/events/1/356/the-opportunities-and-challenges-of-the-public-health-white-paper/ for details of the FREE conference being organised for local authorities and their partners across the East Midlands to explore the implications of the new Public Health White Paper and participate in discussions on the key issues.

(Digest from LGID Briefing Note 2 - Coalition Plans for Health and Wellbeing).