Public Health annual report foreword

Welcome to my latest independent annual report. This is an opportunity to reflect on local efforts to promote and improve the health and wellbeing of people in Darlington. It also identifies what the data tells us about local health needs and main issues of concern.

This year’s annual report is focused on the health and wellbeing of children and young people. The scope of public health is very broad, and even after 26 years of working in this field of practice I am still passionate about the work I do. The health and wellbeing of children and young people is a great example of this. If we can support strong foundations in early childhood and continue this as children grow there is a very real opportunity to make a difference which can last a lifetime. 

As this report is about the health and wellbeing of children and young people in Darlington, I took the opportunity of this report to meet with some of them directly. You will see and hear the voices of some of our children and young people throughout the report. Many of their questions were informed by the healthy lifestyle survey results for their school, but they also had the opportunity to ask me whatever they wanted! I am very grateful to the children and young people who took part. They were truly all amazing and took the filming in their stride. They showed a lot of enthusiasm and interest and came up with some great questions. I think there may also be some budding journalists amongst them!

A huge thank you must also go to the schools and their teachers, who embraced the whole process: 

• Abbey Junior School
• Hurworth School, 
• Reid Street Primary School
• St John’s Church of England Academy.

I hope the videos and the narrative within this report provide a helpful opportunity to understand more about some of the services available in Darlington for children, young people and families. They highlight some of the main challenges that need our attention to improve outcomes for children and young people.  

In last year’s annual report, I looked at health across the life course in Darlington, with the intention of focusing in more detail on different stages of the life course in future reports. It was therefore always the intention that this report would focus on children and young people. This is even more timely given the publication in July 2025 of the government’s strategy Giving every child the best start in life [external link]. This is focused on improving child development and ensuring all children have the chance to achieve and thrive. It also includes the expansion of Best Start Family Hubs to all local authorities, something which Darlington will benefit from.

To drive forward this work locally all local authorities have been tasked with developing Best Start in Life plans. These set out how local organisations will work together to make sure every child has the best start in life. The publication of the Local Outcomes Framework [external link] in February 2026 further strengthened the focus on best start in life and every child achieving and thriving. It includes national priority outcomes identified to drive delivery locally and ensure progress can be measured.

The Darlington Best Start in Life plan sets out the vision that ‘Darlington will be a place where families are valued, included, and supported from the very start. We will have seamless, high-quality services working together, to give every child the foundations for lifelong wellbeing, learning and success.’

The importance of this work is also reflected locally in the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy [pdf document]. This sets out thematic priorities and local actions for partners in Darlington. It looks at improving maternal and child outcomes and reducing health inequalities. 

Now more than ever, the time is right for us to approach our joint efforts to improve health outcomes and life chances for our children and young people with a renewed energy and optimism for the future.

Lorraine Hughes

Director of Public Health