Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed The

BBC News - Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NEW BMJ BLOG: @sallygainsbury.bsky.social and James Lomas @york.ac.uk argue that the terms of the US-UK medicines partnership will reduce the cost effectiveness of the NHS’s finite resources, and the UK government must publish a detailed impact assessment. 💊

Read here: buff.ly/KCBgvZi

Geoff Mulgan April 14th, 2026 The myth of STEM only growth holds back the UK

‘Why did the USSR, with its fantastic scientists and engineers and heavy investment in STEM, nevertheless stagnate?’
Excoriating from @geoffmulgan.bsky.social on the undervaluing of social science and humanities research
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

More investment by tombola. Fund local government properly.

Deep-fried food banned in new plans for school dinners Schools are being told to cut down on sugary desserts, and provide more vegetables and whole grains.

We’re pleased to see the launch of the Government’s consultation on stricter School Food Standards, a huge step towards creating healthier food environments for our children & young people.

👀 Read our full response ➡️ bit.ly/48A3Ed1

bit.ly/4msU29y

Important work from my colleagues. If you care about wealth inequality, you need to be able to measure wealth well. That's hard. With an improved methodology, it looks like wealth gaps by age were smaller than official statistics would suggest

New CMI report on death rates in the first 3 months of 2026.

Death rates were at record lows this winter!

Based on death registrations, every week of 2026 saw death rates at or below the corresponding week of 2025, which itself had record low mortality. (1/3)
www.actuaries.org.uk/learn-and-de...

Healthwatch, ‘Unknown Unknowns’, And The Value Of A Friend Who Tells You The Truth | The King's Fund Following the abolishment of Healthwatch, we explore what must be considered when designing what comes next for patient voice.

Healthwatch, ‘Unknown Unknowns’, And The Value Of A Friend Who Tells You The Truth | The King's Fund - @lucatiratelli.bsky.social channelling Donald Rumsfeld
www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

By making your trains run on time. It's the constant, grinding monotony of ALWAYS being 5-15 minutes late (17 now and will get longer) whatever train I seem to get on. I know you can't change that personally.

It saddens me to say (especially as I'm paying for the privilege) I could walk faster than @serailway.bsky.social...

ICYMI: This is a v good read. The reality of Beveridge in practice was path-dependent evolution. Is this a heightened version of what we used to call 'muddling through'? And is there still a role for grander visions, to help steer that muddling through?

Mother Clanger found after 50 years hidden in loft - BBC Sounds The Mother Clanger model was stolen in 1973.

ICYMI: Unequivocally good news > www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

A few of our FPH events!

📅 22/04/26 - Academic Public Health: Early Careers Advice Hour

📅 23/04/26 - Health Protection SIG Training Day

📅 24/04/26 - Different Approaches to Tackling Health Misinformation

Register and see more ➡️ www.fph.org.uk/events-cours...

📊 Track the recovery of the ozone layer with updated data—

The ozone layer plays a vital role in making the planet habitable for us and other species by absorbing most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.

Insights into US life expectancy stagnation from birth cohort mortality dynamics | PNAS US life expectancy remained essentially flat in the 2010s. This trend has occurred in the presence of advancing innovations in medical care, especi...

So much outstanding work is happening so quickly in the research area "What, exactly, has gone so wrong with US mortality?"

This is one really good intervention in that vein by @leahrabrams.bsky.social @alysonvanraalte.bsky.social & colleagues

Devolution, integration, prevention: Do the government’s public service reform plans add up? | Institute for Government There is a mismatch between the government's stated aims for public service reform and how departments are driving change.

NEW REPORT: the government claims that it wants public services to be more devolved, better integrated, and more focused on prevention

With a raft of reform programmes now underway in services, are they on track to achieve those aims?

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Have the UK’s northern cities really experienced a productivity miracle? - Economics Observatory While official data points to a 'productivity miracle' in several large northern cities since 2019, a closer look suggests otherwise. This serves as a reminder to sense-check any data before using it,...

Another proof point!

Super interesting critique of the Manchester growth story from @paulswinney.bsky.social

www.economicsobservatory.com/have-the-uks...

Chart shows relative poverty (after housing costs) for different groups, 2010–11 to 2024–25. Title states: "Using administrative benefits data when measuring incomes reduces measured relative poverty by 2 percentage points over 2021–22 to 2023–24."

NEW: Are fewer people living in poverty than previously thought?

New DWP statistics with improved methodology out today have reduced official measures of income poverty, but it’s too early to tell where estimates will end up after further changes are made:

Line dancing: can harmonised boundaries be delivered? - Bennett School of Public Policy The Government says it wants to align the boundaries of England’s public institutions with new strategic authorities. Yet recent reforms in areas like health and policing reveal competing pressures, a...

Gd piece > the public sector (esp health) can't resist shifting boundaries based on own sector's services, not people/places. To be fair to govt it sees this problem, at high level the state is meant to migrate to strategic authority boundaries, is it? www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/line-da...

Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low-income households in the UK.

New stats:

- Overall poverty up
- Child poverty up
- Working-age adult poverty up
- Pensioner poverty up

Quite small rises (not statistically significant) but this is what Labour inherited and must now address

(relative, AHC)

www.gov.uk/government/c...

Last year, we worked with ScotCen to include 11 questions about health inequalities & prevention in the annual Scottish Social Attitudes survey. Crucially: 94% of the population thinks it’s important for the Scottish Government to reduce the health gap between rich & poor people.

Why the NHS needs a ‘slow policymaking’ movement | The King's Fund In a system bloated on fast-food-style policymaking, slowing down might be the most positive – and radical – step the government can take to improve health care.

Great piece from @ruthrobbo.bsky.social for @thekingsfund.bsky.social - the virtue of slow policy-making - and why we might be in a better place now if the foot was not always on the gas (it's pedal to the metal as we speak)... www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

*NEW* British Social Attitudes Survey from @thekingsfund.bsky.social @nuffieldtrust.org.uk is a #mixedbag - welcome jump in #satisfaction with the #NHS, ...BUT clear worries about the #future, the public is less opimistic than in previous years. Full report here www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

The deep, deep stench of corruption.

👏 Great event today bringing together public health and planning professionals to explore how we can create healthier places for our communities.

👀 Stay tuned for more from today’s discussions.

Expecting ICB staff to deliver anything "at pace" when most have been through a bruising 12-month long restructure process is quite the ask. Most of us in our ICB don't even know what job we will be doing after next month, never mind getting ready to do all this at the drop of a hat.

Longitudinal census analysis 2011-21 from @healthfoundation.bsky.social on working age self-reported health and what drives it > www.health.org.uk/reports-and-...

Neighbourhood health framework

*New* neighbourhood health framework from DHSC, at first glance points that come to mind are i. who's in charge (so many parties, ICBs, new org forms, HWBs (gd to hear their name)? ii. it's an awful lot to do... iii. & morale is rock bottom in those expected to do it... www.gov.uk/government/p...

Governing in turbulent times – TIAL That is how governments avoid being trapped in the “eternal present”, even when the news cycle is determined to become the unofficial minister for everything.

How to organise strategic capability in government - a painful reminder of what we are currently missing. Excellent synthesis by Geoff Mulgan.

tial.org/publications...

Understanding urban health costs with HAUS If we make a change to an area where people live, what is the impact on health and how can we value this? TRUUD is developing a valuation model to help planners, investors and developers understand th...

ICYMI: Interested in the impact of #urbandesign on #health, and #measuring and #valuing it? Then this could be for you, from TRUUD and embedded in new MHCLG guidance www.truud.ac.uk/understandin...