PLANS to give councillors a greater say on community health have been welcomed by Barnet Council.

Under new Government proposals, which will be fleshed out in the coming months, councillors would take the lead in deciding health issues following the abolition of primary care trusts.

Councillor Helena Hart, who is in charge of health for the council, said: “No one is better placed to know our Barnet population and their collective health and wellbeing needs than their council.

“While we have no intention of either nannying or imposing solutions on people, we are ideally positioned to help and inform them on how to improve their life chances using our existing networks.”

Last week, the Government unveiled its white paper Healthy Lives, Healthy People, in which local authorities would have a dedicated fund to “influence” health in the community.

Cllr Hart added: “However well we managed our relationship with the PCT, they still held the pursestrings and any health improvement or disease avoidance programmes were always the first to go whenever they had to make budget cuts.

“We would not be so short-sighted. Cancer screening and other early detection services can make a vital contribution to saving people’s lives and prevention is so much better than cure — especially on diabetes, obesity and smoking related diseases.

The proposals would encourage councils to “nudge” residents in the right direction instead of telling them what they should be doing.