For too long now we've shared guilty knowledge about a terrible scar that blights our neighbourhoods and communities. Massive health inequalities exist across all our towns and cities, and until now we've failed to grasp the challenge of doing something really effective about it.

Now, on the eve of bringing public health back home to local government, we have an opportunity to act more decisively and to really make a difference to the health and wellbeing of our people in our places.