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Public Health (England)

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. Before the latest—let me call it the last—reorganisation of PCTs, 48 per cent. of PCTs and local government bodies had directly coterminous responsibility for social services; now, the figure is indeed 70 per cent. Getting that shape is important if we are to invest in the future. I discovered from a recent press release that the head of social services for Rotherham borough council, John Gomersall, had recently been appointed as a non-executive director of the PCT. I wish him well. We will see more such examples, which will enable us to continue to improve the health of the public. All parts of the House need to be a lot more responsible than the European Parliament on the question of smoking inside buildings, for example. We need to find and build consensus where we can. This issue matters in everybody’s constituency. The disease burden and health inequality are high in my constituency for all sorts of reasons, but every hon. Member has constituents with health problems that have been going on for years. Those people need our attention and we must ensure that no matter who forms the Government, we work to get rid of the health inequalities that have been around for far too long.