A series of reports and briefings summarized evidence, practical points, and case studies on approaches and actions that might be taken by local authorities on a range of issues to reduce health inequalities (drawing on expertise from the Marmot Review). Reports covered: parenting programmes; home to school transition; pupils' resilience in school; reducing the number of young people not in employment, education, or training; adult learning; increasing employment for older people and people with disabilities; improving workplace health; the living wage; fuel poverty; home-related health problems; access to green spaces; and the economics of investing in social determinants of health.
Source: Local Action on Health Inequalities: Introduction to a series of evidence papers, Public Health England
Links: Overarching report | Themed reports
Date: 2014-Sep
A think-tank report examined the maintenance of urban green spaces, public sector funding, alternative sources of public sector money to support their improvement, and what policy changes might be needed to encourage people and communities to become more involved in looking after parks. Building on an earlier report, it said that the average local authority spend on open spaces was reduced by 10.5 per cent between 2010-11 and 2012-13, with no ring-fence on the maintenance budget. The report made a range of proposals, including: a full or partial council tax rebate for local residents who joined civil or community groups and volunteered to maintain and improve nearby green spaces; piloting ecotherapy (the use of public green space to hold physical fitness classes, commissioned by health commissioners, with providers paying the local authority to use the space); a park levy, where residents would vote on whether to raise a compulsory levy on properties within a set distance from a park or urban green space, which would be used for maintenance; living legacies, involving charities; and developer endowment (new green spaces developed alongside a new housing development, with a long-term funding plan which could include endowments part-funded by developer contributions as part of the planning application).
Source: Katherine Drayson, Green Society: Policies to improve the UK's urban green spaces, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | 2013 report | Summary | Policy Exchange press release | Guardian report
Date: 2014-Aug
A think-tank report examined the maintenance of urban green spaces, public sector funding, alternative sources of public sector money to support their improvement, and what policy changes might be needed to encourage people and communities to become more involved in looking after parks. Building on an earlier report, it said that the average local authority spend on open spaces was reduced by 10.5 per cent between 2010-11 and 2012-13, with no ring-fence on the maintenance budget. The report made a range of proposals, including: a full or partial council tax rebate for local residents who joined civil or community groups and volunteered to maintain and improve nearby green spaces; piloting ecotherapy (the use of public green space to hold physical fitness classes, commissioned by health commissioners, with providers paying the local authority to use the space); a park levy, where residents would vote on whether to raise a compulsory levy on properties within a set distance from a park or urban green space, which would be used for maintenance; living legacies, involving charities; and developer endowment (new green spaces developed alongside a new housing development, with a long-term funding plan which could include endowments part-funded by developer contributions as part of the planning application).
Source: Katherine Drayson, Green Society: Policies to improve the UK's urban green spaces, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | 2013 report | Summary | Policy Exchange press release | Guardian report
Date: 2014-Aug
An article examined the role of neighbourhood green space in determining levels of participation in physical activity among elderly men with different levels of physical ability. Drawing on a study conducted in Caerphilly, Wales, it said that elderly men living in neighbourhoods with more green space had higher levels of participation in regular physical activity, although the association varied according to lower extremity physical function. It discussed the implications for the design of health/activity interventions and planning policy.
Source: Yi Gong, John Gallacher, Stephen Palmer, and David Fone, 'Neighbourhood green space, physical function and participation in physical activities among elderly men: the Caerphilly Prospective study', International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Volume 11
Links: Article
Date: 2014-Apr
A report compared three major health problems in a range of English cities (London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, and Sheffield) with the amount of available green and public space. It said that the areas of the cities with the poorest health outcomes had the least amount of green space. It outlined ideas for action by developers, councils and the government.
Source: Rebecca Roberts-Hughes, City Health Check: How design can save lives and money, Royal Institute of British Architects
Links: Report | RIBA press release
Date: 2014-Jan
An article examined the impact of living in green urban areas on the mental health of individuals who moved home in Britain. Drawing on data from the British Household Survey, it said that moving to greener urban areas was associated with sustained mental health improvements, which suggested that policies to increase the level of urban green space might bring public health benefits.
Source: Ian Alcock, Mathew White, Benedict Wheeler, Lora Fleming, and Michael Depledge, 'Longitudinal effects on mental health of moving to greener and less green urban areas', Environmental Science and Technology, Volume 48 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Jan