The new Policy and Development Board faces the challenge of delivering the goods, raising the credibility of environmental health and placing the profession centre stage in national policy debate. Tracey Khanna reports

The creation of the Policy and Development Board (PDB) ushers in a new era for the CIEH, with, perhaps for the first time in its recent history, the unfolding of an integrated approach to policy development. The future PDB work programme aims to ensure that cross cutting environmental and public health themes are effectively identified and promoted, through the refocusing of the traditional technical areas around five key themes: public health; better regulation; changing policy frameworks; environmental stewardship; and sustainable communities. This process of change has been long and considered.

Back in April 2001, an intense two-day workshop produced the vision needed to anticipate the direction that environmental health will take over the next decade. Board members were asked to consider the factors that would shape society in 2010, grouping each factor in one of four categories following the STEP (sociological, technological, economic and political) model. Members were then asked to refine their vision of future society, before seeking to determine what the future public health impacts might be and identifying what issues the profession could have the greatest impact on. While the processes and techniques employed over this two-day strategic meeting were undoubtedly crude, the outcome was an initial set of integrated priority subjects for further consideration. Later in the year, these emerging themes, which accurately reflect the principal aims and objectives of the organisation as a whole, were adopted as key to the developing framework of the PDB work programme.

SERVICE DELIVERY
One of the main aims of the PDB work programme is to build on the credibility of the organisation - vital if it is to have the access and opportunities to influence government policy and legislation. The continued attendance of the secretariat at meetings, groups and sub-groups is essential in raising the organisation's profile and in opening doors for collaboration with government departments, agencies and other organisations.

Another key element in the success of the PDB is the operation of effective networks to ensure two-way communication flows between the membership and the organisation. The model of policy development proposed places a strong emphasis on the use of expert advisory panels (EAPs) and the running of open membership forums (OMFs). These mechanisms aim to achieve a far higher level of membership participation than ever before. But it is up to individual members to climb on board and make full use of these opportunities. The success of the new policy board depends heavily on the involvement of the membership. OMFs The open membership forums will hopefully provide members with an opportunity to discuss and influence the activities of the Chartered Institute in terms of technical policy. Operating as "thematic technical meetings", OMFs will provide a platform for members to voice their opinions on the work the CIEH should be doing in particular areas. Any suggestions arising from such meetings will be seen as influential on policy direction, but not binding. There are quite literally no limits to the number of OMFs that can be formed; any group of members, branch or centre can hold a forum, reach consensus and then make a representation to the PDB through trustees or the secretariat. In 2002, the CIEH will support around 10 meetings which will be held around the country. As an enhancement to the OMF meetings, a small number of virtual forums will run on the CIEH website. The web-based format will enable the discussion forums to be as open and wide ranging as participating members desire. EAPs The revamped policy deliverance system requires the use of a larger pool of expertise to ensure that the organisation's policy and activities stay technically robust. The creation of EAPs will provide a more flexible system for the CIEH to be able to tap into a wider range of expertise, from both within the membership and from external experts. EAPs will assist in providing advice and direction, again through the mechanism of reporting to the secretariat, who will in turn report to the PDB. The number of EAPS that will be formed is determined by a number of factors including; the number of work programme projects, the nature of such projects and the need for timely response to external initiatives. Still in their infancy, the EAPs need further development and the CIEH is urgently seeking members with specialist knowledge in a wide range of environmental health fields to assist in their facilitation.

WORK PROGRAMME ELEMENTS
The many and varied projects that have been drawn up and prioritised under the five broad themes mentioned previously, are designed to reflect the traditional and core environmental health services while additionally probing new opportunities and possibilities. Public health: human health is the core business of the CIEH and all its actions and policies should be in line with the aim of improving public health. In this sense, this theme is entirely self-evident and cross cutting with all other work. However, there is also a distinct "public health" agenda which the PBD is anxious to contribute to and to ensure that the skills and experiences of environmental health professionals can participate in fully. Four key public health issues have emerged throughout the strategic review process: communicable disease; tackling inequalities; new methods and patterns of employment; and non-communicable disease. One of the issues to be tackled under this banner is "health inequalities", and the PDB plans to produce good practice guidance on how environmental health services can develop strategies to address the Government's health inequality targets. Other projects will focus on ensuring that the environmental health profession is included in any debate regarding the newly emerging public health structures. Better regulation: As much of the work of environmental health professionals is related to the application of legislation and its enforcement, the PDB strategic meetings identified a number of core themes including regulation or self-regulation, crisis management, and performance management. As part of this, a priority project is the provision and continued development of competent professionals. During the year, the CIEH plans to produce further guidance for the assessment and management of practitioners in the environmental health field, particularly health and safety and food hygiene enforcement. Changing policy frameworks: The political, economic and governance context in which environmental health is delivered is constantly changing, and these changing frameworks can have a significant effect on the ability of environmental health action to have a meaningful outcome. Thus, the PDB work programme will include elements that take a close interest in the issues that affect the way in which services can be delivered. Issues such as regionalisation, globalisation and the tendency of policy makers to adopt risk aversion policies as significant drivers will be closely monitored. Environmental stewardship: This theme remains a vital component of the work undertaken by environmental health departments and will continue to be a key competency of the CIEH. A number of projects in this area will be rolled out throughout the year, including: the production of a series of case studies on crisis/catastrophe management, as part of the provision of information for EHOs to better deal with emergency planning; the management of land resources; and indoor and outdoor air quality. Sustainable communities: Finally, the PDB has set a work programme which will encompass the agendas set by the Government's neighbourhood renewal and community regeneration initiatives and will include the issues related to the physical living environment and housing conditions. Ways of tackling poor housing conditions and initiatives for crime and community safety will be of priority. The new PDB now faces the challenge of delivering on its work programme. The opportunity exists for it to produce a number of high quality and relevant products and initiatives for the profession. It provides a platform for building the credibility of the environmental health workforce, placing it centre stage in national policy debates. Please contact the CIEH at Chadwick Court for further information, or if you would like to participate in the expert advisory panels.

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BOARD
Last year can be seen as a huge success for the education and professional standards board. Established in April, huge strides have been made in establishing better working methods with the support of the sub boards and committees. Paul Robinson has only recently explained the initiatives that were high on the agenda for 2001, (EHJ, November 2001, page 350), but what of this forthcoming year? Well, much of the board's time will inevitably be spent on "maintenance issues", such as the delivery of professional exams and other assessments, liaison with universities to ensure the proper delivery of accredited courses and the sampling of members' CPD records. But an ambitious work programme will include the key issues of recruitment, research, low-cost training, widening the membership and review of the routes to qualification and core curriculum. Accessing chartered status will be a priority, and it is planned that this will go before members for approval in the AGM in June.