Ministerial Support for CSPs
Anne Milton MP
The government's vision for improving the public's health will be set out in a White Paper in December. This will create a new Public Health Service and set out national, local and individual responsibilities for health improvement and protection. In a letter to County Sports Partnerships last month, Anne Milton MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health wrote:
"We will consult on what outcomes are needed, focussing on what we want to achieve and giving professionals and communities the freedom to focus on what works locally. I am sure that County Sports Partnerships will have a key role to play in the local delivery landscape, not least in identifying local needs and working with local partners to broker the right solutions to address them."
She also went on to write: "I am encouraged to see that you are already re-developing your services and products to support the forthcoming public health service."
Get Active Northumberland Physical Activity Strategy
In the light of the changes to the way public health is structured and delivered, partners in local government and health were keen to strengthen partnership working in the county, particularly given the pressure on public spending in the current economic climate.
Over the summer Northumberland Sport has therefore continued to develop the Physical Activity Strategy with partners and we are now at final draft stage. The strategy will be considered by the County Council and Public Health before opening for a period of wider consultation.
4 point summary of the Strategy:
- Developed to address the problems of physical inactivity: almost 8 out of 10 people in Northumberland don't do enough physical activity to maintain their health. Inactivity costs the NHS in Northumberland over £4m per year.
- The strategy draws together the work of a wide variety of partners in Northumberland who are collaborating to achieve local targets including NI8, to increase participation by adults in the county.
- The strategy considers market segmentation and other research to prioritise 5 activities: walking, swimming, running, cycling and dance. A 3 year action plan develops these activities and coordinates the work of the partners involved in delivering.
- Northumberland Sport is the organisation in place to coordinate the action plan and work strategically across the variety of partners to maximise resources. Following initial funding from Department of Health, we are now receiving local support from Northumberland Care Trust to continue this work.
Further Information
Any developments on the Physical Activity Strategy will be posted on the Northumberland Sport website in due course. If you have any queries in the meantime however, please contact Joanne Edwards or Sonya McDonough.
