Tackling Obesity in England - National Audit Office

TACKLING OBESITY IN ENGLANDReview of policy objectives and initiativesacross Government14 Through discussion with policy staff at the Departmentof Health, we identified the other main players withinGovernment with an influence on the principal featuresof lifestyle that affect body weight: what we eat and howmuch exercise we take. These were:16 We looked in particular for evidence of the maincategories of cross-cutting intervention identified in theCabinet Office report, 'Wiring it up' (1999) 31 as follows:nnnOrganisational changeMerged structures and budgetsJoint teamsnnnDepartment for Culture, Media and SportDepartment for Education and EmploymentDepartment of the Environment, Transport and theRegionsn Food Standards Agency (from April 2000)n Health Education Authority (until March 2000)n Health Development Agency (from April 2000)nnnnnnShared budgetsJoint customer interface arrangementsJoint management arrangementsShared objectives and performance indicatorsConsultation to enhance synergies and managetrade-offsSharing information to increase mutual awareness.nMinistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.15 We examined key documents and spoke to policy staffin each of these departments and agencies to identifyany objectives which might influence patterns of eatingand physical activity. We then undertook a series ofinterviews with the staff nominated within eachorganisation to establish the main mechanisms theyused for working with other departments and agencies,how effective collaboration had been, and what the keyoutputs were in terms of jointly-sponsored research,projects and initiatives. We also asked them wherepossible to provide examples of local initiatives andjoint working, involving organisations such as localauthorities, health authorities, schools, and localproviders of health and social services, whichdemonstrated this cross-cutting approach.Site visits17. We undertook a number of field visits to observe at firsthand how local initiatives operated in schools, hospitalsand specialist centres, and to interview the peopleinvolved. This included visits to:nnnnnnBaverstock School in BirminghamCarnegie International Camp (weight loss Summercamp for children), LeedsCentre for Obesity Research, Luton and DunstableHospital NHS TrustEast Hertfordshire NHS TrustStockport Acute Services NHS TrustStockport Healthcare NHS Trust.aappendix one49