Regional devolution and health inequalities

About the project

The King’s Fund is working with CLES to understand how regional devolution can be used to explore health inequalities. The work is supported by the Health Foundation, and has explored how key powers devolved to strategic authorities – including in areas like like transport, housing, planning, and the economy – can best be leveraged in order to achieve best outcomes for the health of populations.

What we’re doing

This is a multiyear project that began in 2024. It’s consisted of interviews, roundtables and workshops with mayors, strategic and local authority officers and NHS staff, as well as academics and other policy experts. We have produced a range of outputs during the duration of the projects, listed below.

Key publications

• Local growth plans and the building blocks of health

• Strategic authorities and health inequalities: 10 actions for realistic progress

• Tackling inequalities through English devolution: towards a new framework

• A new health duty for mayors and strategic authorities: getting it right

• Addressing health inequalities through

  employment: challenges and opportunities for strategic authorities

• Affordable infrastructure: how strategic authorities can use housing and public transport to tackle health inequalities

• Integrated care systems and strategic authorities: Coming together to tackle health inequalities and the wider determinants of health

Related blogs

• Designing health into devo bill

• Combined recipe for healthy communities

• The English Devolution White Paper: a long read, but will it be good for your health?