Devolution: New position statement

Following the publication of the English devolution white paper in December 2024 and introduction of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, we have outlined our position which highlights the key opportunities and risks presented by devolution and presents our recommendations for effective implementation.

Our recommendations

• The statutory role of Directors of Public Health (DsPH) to provide strategic leadership to improve and protect health and wellbeing across the local health system should be fully recognised, and existing partnerships harnessed, in new devolved structures.
• Devolution should be based on the principle of subsidiarity – transferring power to the lowest possible level or where decisions have the most impact.
• Powers must be matched with adequate resourcing and consistent funding at each level is needed, although duplication of resources should be avoided.
• New devolved structures should take a health in all policies approach, recognising that the majority of health and wellbeing outcomes are determined by factors outside the NHS.
• New structures and roles must be clearly defined in terms of locality, with co-terminosity whenever possible, with clear lines of accountability to specific organisations.
• There should be a firm commitment to develop a comprehensive public health workforce strategy.
• Local data and analytics should be shared with DsPH, and across all levels of governance, so that it can be interpreted and applied locally.