Beleaguered health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has called on local government to support his controversial Health Bill, amid continuing NHS and public concerns.

Mr Lansley told chief executives at the annual SOLACE dinner on 9 February that the most radical part of the Bill was the power it transferred to local authorities to run public health functions. ‘The truly radical part of the Health Bill is not the responsibility it gives to GPs and clinicians but empowering local government to take on public health,' he told guests.