This book addresses the key issues facing local authorities as they provide services and support their local populations.

Although the municipal corporations in the 19th century had responsibility for the community, populations were stratified, with those in the lower levels not well supported. The generation of wealth and the influence of socialist and liberal policies in the 20th century led to a cultural change in which respect and help for individuals was addressed by the setting up of the welfare state and the National Health Service.

With continued cultural and political change, expectations of support for the individual from the state have risen. We are now faced with the question as to who is responsible for the health and wellbeing of individuals and their communities. The simple answer could lie in the appropriate and fair allocation of resources by the locally elected members of councils that commission services. However, our changing understanding of the social determinants of health, regional differences in wealth and opportunities, and the defence of human rights should promote a fundamental rethinking of local approaches to health and wellbeing.

This book explores the challenges and responses of local authorities to the changing sociopolitical landscape by means of five sections addressing: Health, social care and community wellbeing; The role of local authorities in promoting health and wellbeing in the community; Local authority commissioning; The third sector; and Socio-economic political perspectives.

This interdisciplinary approach is being captured by a number of universities in discussion, collaborating in this publication, to promote relationship-building and the establishment of a Centre for Partnering (CfP); see Part IV, Chapter 10. This is a new initiative that is considering partnership and the future delivery of public services. Among the aims of the CfP are consideration of the various issues raised in this book, particularly as they relate to place-based services, and how collaborative economies could assist in the establishment of future sustainable economic models. This book raises ‘wicked issues’ within the context of the social determinants of health. The aim of the CfP, through universities working together, and collaborating with local authorities and the third sector, will be to consider how best to translate the issues and experiences encountered by the authors into positive and practical outcomes.