The LGA/ADPH Annual Public Health Conference 2026 ‘Better health for all: Local leadership in action’ took place this week with two Champs Directors, Professor Matt Ashton and Professor Ian Ashworth taking part. The conference brought together leaders, practitioners and partners to explore how to achieve better health for all and how local systems can work together to improve population health. Discussions included prevention, early intervention, the wider determinants of health and the role of neighbourhoods.
Professor Matt Ashton, Director of Public Health at Liverpool City Council, ADPH Board Member and Co-Chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside All Together Fairer Board, spoke in the opening session on, ‘Health beyond the NHS: putting local government and public health at the heart of neighbourhood health’.
Matt highlighted how public health and local government can drive a truly holistic model of neighbourhood health, sharing insights from the All Together Fairer Neighbourhoods approach. He emphasised the importance of a shared, prevention focused and bottom up approach to reducing inequalities across Cheshire and Merseyside, noting that All Together Fairer Neighbourhoods creates a real opportunity for Cheshire and Merseyside to lead the way by fully embedding prevention within local neighbourhood health models.
Professor Ian Ashworth, Director of Population Health at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside and Co-Chair of the All Together Fairer Board, contributed to a panel discussion led by David Buck, Senior Fellow in Public Health and Health Inequalities at The King’s Fund.
The session, ‘English devolution and health inequalities: Panacea or distraction?’, examined the potential impact of devolution on tackling health inequalities. Ian reflected on the collaborative work between NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, Combined Authorities and the Champs Public Health Collaborative, particularly around the development of whole system approach to inequalities – All Together Fairer.
The insights and practical examples shared in the sessions can be accessed via the LGA website, where all presentations are now available to download.
You can access the slides here: LGA/ADPH Annual Public Health Conference 2026: Better health for all – Local leadership in action, Tuesday 24-Thursday 26 February 2026 | Local Government Association
