Member

Amendment 166 would require combined authorities to prepare and publish a health inequalities strategy setting out how they will operationalise the duty under new Section 107ZB. We want the need to improve health and reduce inequalities to be embedded in the work of these authorities. There is nothing to prevent local partners agreeing that they wish to align around an area-wide approach or strategy, and a shared sense of local ambition would be important in such activity. Of course, local areas may have different local priorities, and we must allow that flexibility. We do not want to add bureaucratic burdens by, in essence, setting detailed process requirements. The Government will pay close attention to how the new duty embeds in the work of combined authorities to understand the impact it is having over time, including the different ways in which authorities respond to it.