Complementary non-planning plans and strategies: where can guidance be found?

Guidance was published by Public Health England – ‘Strategies for encouraging healthier out of home food provision’ in 2017. This toolkit was designed to support local councils and independent food businesses to develop healthier food options eaten away from the home for children and families (1).

The toolkit summarises the evidence base, types of interventions, and emerging local practice, to help those responsible within local authorities (councillors, health and wellbeing boards, planners, public health and environmental health) to think about how a whole systems approach could bring together a coalition of partners to improve the food environment for children and families.

The toolkit is a resource to help local councils and partners to:

• Understand the links between the food and drink environment and consumption patterns
• Identify where interventions to improve the local food and drink environment are required
• Develop a strategy to tackle the issues identified
• Select suitable interventions
• Monitor progress and evaluate outcomes

The toolkit includes information on different types of healthier catering schemes that could be introduced with eating out of home businesses and strategies for encouraging outlet participation. The types of scheme include:

• Generic – targeting a wide variety of food outlets
• Specialist – targeting particular types of outlets or issues
• Award – single or multi-tiered approach
• Non-award
• Targeted – schemes focused on a specific community or geographical area, for example initiatives targeted at outlets around schools

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has also produced a ‘Takeaways Toolkit’, which sets out guidance on using environmental health and licensing policies in response to the health impact of takeaway outlets (2).

Public Health England guidance ‘Healthier catering guidance for different types of businesses’ provides tips for businesses on how to provide and promote healthier food and drink for children and families (1). Local authorities are encouraged to disseminate this information to local businesses, including food businesses and use these tips and the wider aspects of the Eatwell Guide and 5 A Day guidance, alongside the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering as a basis for developing local guidance on healthy catering and frameworks for food award schemes (3), (4).