Announced this week, the 40-point manifesto, Health for our future, will be backed by social media activity, briefings and press releases in the run-up to the election on 7 May.
Graham Jukes, CIEH chief executive said that the manifesto had been produced following extensive consultation with its members. He commented: ‘Our members are active in all sectors. Whether they work as generalists or are specialists in housing, food safety, occupational health or environmental protection, we know that their actions on preventative health are keeping people out of doctors’ surgeries and hospitals.
He added: ‘Our calls for actions are backed by detailed evidence, proving that not investing in environmental and public health would cost the country more than the money saved. Our work is good for business, both in keeping employees healthy and the public safe and in driving out rogue traders. At a community level if promotes individual wellbeing and social cohesion.’
In the document, the CIEH calls on a new government to ring-fence public health funding for local government beyond 2016 and to strengthen the powers of health and wellbeing boards and Public Health England.
It calls on a new government to maintain local services and council workforces that make food and housing safe and communities sustainable and to ‘stop knocking health and safety’.
On food, it calls for mandatory display of food hygiene ratings by food businesses in England and for a range of measures to protect those most vulnerable to unhealthy food.
In housing it advocates the wider use of landlord licensing to protect tenants and for national and local schemes for the renewal and replacement of defective and life-threatening homes.
On the environment, the CIEH calls for a new air quality strategy, renewed funding and powers for councils on contaminated land, a campaign to reduce water poverty and an emphasis in planning on sustainability.
Among the manifesto’s other demands are tougher measures to address the role low-price alcohol plays in encouraging antisocial behavior and creating ill health and for a new government to maintain significant resourcing on sustainable international development and climate change.
Acknowledging that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved powers on many environmental health matters and different political and community priorities, Mr Jukes said: ‘We believe that the same protections to health and wellbeing should apply consistently across the UK. We urge all parties to adopt the key issues in our manifesto document within their own policy positions.
‘Our campaign to ensure these issues are properly addressed won’t stop after the election. We’ll continue to hold all parties to account and to monitor their performance.’
Read and download the manifesto at:
www.cieh.org/policy/election_manifesto