We exist to protect and improve the nation's health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities.
We are an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, and a distinct organisation with operational autonomy. We provide government, local government, the NHS, Parliament, industry and the public with evidence-based professional, scientific expertise and support.
We employ 5,500 staff (full-time equivalent), mostly scientists, researchers and public health professionals.
We have 8 local centres, plus an integrated region and centre for London, and 4 regions (north of England, south of England, Midlands and east of England, and London).
We work closely with public health professionals in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and internationally.
Public Health England was established on 1 April 2013 to bring together public health specialists from more than 70 organisations into a single public health service.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
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Sustainable Management Plan 2017/2020
Executive Summary PHE is committed to sustainable development in all its activities it undertakes. Our Sustainable Development Management Plan (SDMP) sets out the organisation’s aims to help it to operate in more sustainable ways that meet its objectives and targets.
This document details practical information that PHE will adopt to embed sustainable development into its business plans, thus having direct and indirect implications for our management teams and our staff’s everyday lives, creating positive opportunities for us all. It also gives detailed information on how we will reduce our carbon emissions while still providing a high level of high-quality, science-based support to our stakeholders, thus ensuring our ambition to be an exemplar organisation in the health sector.
Achieving our goals in a sustainable and low carbon way is critical to turning the biggest strategic health threat we face into the greatest opportunity for collective action and health improvement.
PHE’s ambition on sustainability and climate change also extends to the work the organisation undertakes externally, in the public and private sectors though not covered in detail in this document. PHE has developed a narrative that it believes enhances and encompasses our understanding of sustainable development in the health sector and our impact upon it, which is available on PHEnet and detailed below.
Sustainable development is recognised as an important issue by many PHE staff. The SDMP is aligned with, and contributes to, meeting the goals of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the NHS, public health and social care system.
We acknowledge and support the government’s commitment to sustainable development and its endorsement of environmental management as one of the tools we can use to ensure a better quality of life for our staff as well as the communities that we both serve and impact upon. This is clearly signalled by recognising the importance of social impacts alongside economic and environmental impacts in decision making.
The organisation is also responsible for fulfilling its legal obligations. Members of staff have a duty of care when interacting with aspects of the environment which could have a significant impact. This document describes PHE’s sustainable development management plans and provides a strategic management overview of the objectives and targets that are in place to reduce our impact – environmentally, socially and financially. This will ensure that the principles of sustainable development become embedded into every facet of the organisation.
We will implement this SDMP in a transparent and robust manner that will ensure we deliver environmental, economic and social benefits by:
- meeting and where possible exceeding the ‘Greening Government Commitment’ targets, by minimising our environmental impact (carbon footprint, travel, water, waste) and ensuring our purchasing activities meet the government’s standards for sustainable procurement
- preparing for, and responding to, the health-related impacts of climate change
- engaging with staff across the whole organisation on sustainable development
- providing opportunities for our staff, in the workplace, to lead a sustainable healthy lifestyle
- provide leadership and advice, when called upon, for local public health systems
- meeting our legislative requirements, relative to the aspects associated with sustainable development
- monitoring and measuring our progress on all of these activities clearly and openly
Accountability for this document ultimately lies with the Chair of PHE’s Management Committee, though resposibility for the SDMP’s implementation has been devolved by the Management Committee, to the membership of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Programme Board (SDCCPB).
On a practical basis the SDMP will be implemented across PHE by its network of management teams across all of its directorates. Sustainability leads and champions will communicate any issues with implementing this plan to the Chair of the Sustainable Development Environmental Management Group (SDEMG) who also sits on the SDCCPB.
