A stronger role for directors of public health that feeds into GP commissioning will be identified in the forthcoming public health white paper in England, a junior health minister has told a meeting of public health specialists.

Anne Milton, parliamentary undersecretary of state for public health, said at a meeting at the health policy think tank the King’s Fund that the white paper would “outline the transfer of responsibility for local health improvement from primary care trusts to local authorities, and the stronger role for local directors of public health.”

She referred to the UK’s first public health act, passed in 1875, that empowered local boards of health to prevent disease and improve health, and said similar local action was needed to address obesity and cancer.

The new public health directors, who will …