public health england public health england public health england (phe) was an executive agency of the department of health and social care in england which began operating on 1 april 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. its formation came as a result of the reorganisation of the national health service (nhs) in england outlined in the health and social care act 2012. it took on the role of the health protection agency, the national treatment agency for substance misuse and a number of other health bodies. it was an executive agency of the department of health and social care, and a distinct delivery organisation with operational autonomy. public health englandagency overviewformedapril 2013 (transitional - april 2012)preceding agency health protection agency national treatment agency for substance misuse dissolved1 october 2021superseding agencyuk health security agency, department of health and social care, office for health improvement and disparities, nhs englandjurisdictionenglandheadquarterswellington house 133–155 waterloo road london se1 8ugannual budget£300 millionparent agencydepartment of health and social carewebsitewww.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england on 29 march 2021, the uk government announced that phe would be disbanded and that its public health functions would be transferred, in proposals to reform public health structures. from 1 october 2021, phe's health protection functions were formally transferred into the uk health security agency (ukhsa), while its health improvement functions were transferred to the office for health improvement and disparities (dhsc), nhs england, and nhs digital. establishment proposals for reorganising the national health service were published in the early months of the cameron–clegg coalition, in a july 2010 white paper from the department of health (under andrew lansley) titled "equity and excellence: liberating the nhs". this was followed by a more detailed paper "healthy lives, healthy people: our strategy for public health in england" in november. the bill to implement the proposals was introduced to the house of commons in january 2011, and was the subject of a report by the health select committee in october. responding to criticism, the government published "healthy lives, healthy people: update and way forward" in july. the health and social care act gained royal assent in march 2012, with all elements of the new system to be operative by april 2013. the act established public health england as an executive body accountable to the secretary of state for health. it took over public health activity from the department and from the regional strategic health authorities (which were abolished), and all activities of the health protection agency, the national treatment agency for substance misuse, the public health observatories, the cancer registries, the national cancer intelligence network, and the uk national screening committee together with its screening programmes. mission, funding and resources each year the department of health and social care set out phe's remit and priorities in a letter to its chief executive. the last of such letters, published in july 2021, included tasks to implement the transition to the uk health security agency and the office for health improvement and disparities. phe's mission was "to protect and improve the nation’s health and to address inequalities". it employed approximately 5,000 staff (full-time equivalent), who were mostly scientists, researchers and public health professionals. it announced plans to move its headquarters and 2,750 staff to harlow on a former glaxosmithkline site in 2017. phe laboratories provided an extensive range of microbiological diagnostic tests. the secretary of state sets the total budget for public health, and determined how it was allocated between phe and local authorities. relationship with local authorities the 2012 act, which established phe as a national body, also returned to local authorities the responsibility for a range of community and public health services. each upper tier local authority is required to appoint a director of public health, an officer of the authority who is responsible for the authority's public health functions including responding to emergencies. as of 2020 there are 134 of these posts. 2020–2021 reorganisation a reorganisation of public health protection in england was announced by the secretary of state for health and social care, matt hancock, in august 2020. the move was in response to mistakes in decision making during the covid-19 pandemic, including issues with the supply of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, low community testing capabilities, and insufficient data resourcing. several health experts, including jeremy farrar, director of the wellcome trust, criticised the move to abolish phe during an ongoing pandemic, with richard murray, chief executive of the king's fund, stating that phe "appears to have been found guilty without a trial" and it is "unclear what problem government are hoping to solve". in response, hancock said the move was needed to bring together disparate leadership to strengthen the uk's response to the pandemic, and that the change would not result in disruption. phe would be combined with nhs test and trace to form a national institute for health protection, under a new leadership structure headed by conservative peer dido harding as interim ceo. her appointment was later found to be unlawful. michael brodie, current ceo of the nhs business services authority, was appointed as interim phe ceo, replacing duncan selbie. in march 2021, it was announced that the new agency would instead be called the uk health security agency, commencing on 1 april and led by jenny harries (formerly a regional director at phe and deputy chief medical officer for england). the new ukhsa would focus on infectious disease control, particularly the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. options for phe's other roles, such as preventing ill health and reducing health inequalities, were to be discussed, with the decision made in march 2021 that these functions would move to "new homes within the health system" including the creation of an office for health protection within the department for health and social care. this was subsequently re-named the office for health improvement and disparities and launched 1 october 2021. a few phe staff moved to nhs england/improvement or to nhs digital. while it was originally announced that phe would be wound up on 31 march 2021, the body continued to have a 'shadow existence' until 1 october 2021, to support the transition of responsibilities to its successor organisations. the phe name and employment contracts remained until 1 october. structure phe had the following public-facing divisions: health protection: immunisation, hepatitis and blood safety department chemical, radioactive, and environmental hazards research national poisons information service services for those working with hazardous materials harm reduction in relation to polluted environments operations field epidemiology, including contact tracing contagious disease surveillance and control major incident response health improvement: alcohol, drugs, tobacco and justice (including substance misuse treatment monitoring) health promotion (such as healthy diet or anti-smoking marketing) health screening programmes (such as cancer screening, std checks, cardiovascular disease screening, etc.) – supervised by the uk national screening committee reducing health inequalities specialist healthcare commissioning (in relation to major incidents, etc.) national cancer intelligence network (and other networks) knowledge and information disease registration research and development operations: microbiology unit microbe production research