Local government efforts to improve public health could be undermined by councillors who refuse to promote important but 'difficult' messages, such as talking about condoms and safe sex.
Speaking at a fringe session at the Labour party conference in Manchester this week, councillor Jonathan McShane, cabinet member for health, social care and culture at Hackney council, warned that local authorities may not have the confidence or independence to tackle problems such as teenage pregnancy, sexual infection and the health risks faced by sex workers.
He said one Liberal Democrat council had been forced by councillors to remove its branding from a local campaign to encourage teenage boys to carry and use a condom to prevent unwanted conceptions as elected members did not want to be associated with it at the ballot box.
"If councillors are uncomfortable with sexual health messages, how are they going to be comfortable with doing some of the important things that primary care trusts did such as working with sex workers? I worry that work may be reduced once the transfer happens," McShane said.
His comments follow earlier warnings that councillors relying on public support for re-election could be unwilling to tackle well evidenced but unpopular public health issues such as smoking and obesity.
But McShane said it was up to councils to be bold and act in the interests of its residents. Hackney council is considering banning smoking in parks and outside local cafes, encouraging tenants and residents associations to designate no smoking estates and debate whether it is appropriate for the authority to invest in tobacco companies while promoting messages about living healthy lifestyles.
Hilary Benn, shadow communities secretary, said he believed that local politicians were much more comfortable about speaking out on sexual health since the HIV epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. "I don't for a moment underestimate the pressures and the difficulties, but if something works to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies then that's a good thing, and we should have the courage to say that," he said. "What seemed difficult at one time – a government minister talking about condoms – really wouldn't be seen as something special at all."
Benn praised the success of the Change 4 Life campaign which promoted healthy lifestyles within deprived communities, and called on councils to be guided by what works. "I think local authorities are going to make a really good job of this," he said.
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