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Public Health (England)

I am grateful to the Minister for her intervention. She has at least put that on the record, but I think that she will find, when she checks Hansard tomorrow, that she did not mention Ofcom, and I believe that she should have done so. In ““Health Challenge England””, we find that the Deputy Prime Minister has a key role in the fight for the national waistline. Apparently he leads a cross-cutting Cabinet Sub-Committee on health improvement. Indeed, obesity requires an interdepartmental response. However, last month the Public Accounts Committee took a look at that pillar of the ““Choosing Health”” White Paper and found that any cross-cutting on obesity has been characterised by ““dither””, ““confusion”” and a lack of co-ordination. The Minister has come here today, brazenly and despite all the evidence, to convince us of the brilliance of her Government’s stewardship of public health. Back on planet Earth, the Government’s own chief medical officer is a dissenting voice. He says:"““There is strong anecdotal evidence from within the NHS which tells a consistent story for public health of poor morale, declining numbers, inadequate recruitment and budgets being raided to solve financial deficits in the acute sector.””" Even the Government’s erstwhile health guru, Derek Wanless, is saying disobliging things about the Government’s approach to public health. However, we heard nothing about the crisis in the specialty of public health, or the raiding of public health budgets, from the Minister today.