Prevention is back at the centre of public service reform. Across the UK, major reviews and government strategies are converging on the conclusion that public services need to shift resources upstream, towards building resilience and reducing demand rather than responding when things have gone wrong.
The reasoning is hard to argue with. The Health Foundation's recent analysis found that healthy life expectancy in the UK fell by more than two years over the past decade, with declines across all four nations. In more than nine in 10 local areas, people now spend some years in poor health before reaching state pension age. Much of what builds good health sits with local authorities, including housing, skills and employment, transport and the places where people live their lives.
