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Future Public Health pp 15–38Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Devolution and Public Health Politics in the United Kingdom

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Abstract

Intergovernmental relations may be intricate and dull, but understanding the law and politics of devolution is necessary for understanding the politics of public health in the UK. On the most basic level, power and responsibility in public health — and the chances for meaningful policy change — are shaped by the constitutional politics of the devolution settlement; everything from distinctive communicable disease notification rules to the possibility of a ban on smoking in public places is conditioned by devolution. The different politics of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales change the policy landscape; politicians and political agendas differ systematically in each jurisdiction, and consequently there is variation in the construction of the public health agenda.

I would like to thank the Nuffield Trust for its support for this research.

This chapter was received for publication in Winter 2006.

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Authors
  1. Scott L. Greer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK

    Sandra Dawson DBE, D.Sc (Hon), MFPHM, BA (KPMG Professor of Management) (KPMG Professor of Management)

  2. Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, UK

    Zoë Slote Morris PhD (Senior Research Associate) (Senior Research Associate)

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© 2009 Scott L. Greer

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Greer, S.L. (2009). Devolution and Public Health Politics in the United Kingdom. In: Dawson, S., Morris, Z.S. (eds) Future Public Health. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230582545_2

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