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There has been a succession of policy documents related to active travel published by the British government since the implementation of a National Cycle Network (NCN) in 1995. However, as the latest National Travel Survey (NTS) reveals, the number of journeys made by bike in the UK has remained steadfastly around only 2% (Department for Transport [DfT], 2018a). By using documentary analysis of the available official policy documents and statements, the aim of this paper is to make sense of the policies that have been published concerning active travel (AT) in England. This is done from a figurational sociological perspective. Three key themes emerge from the analysis: (1) the rhetorical, advisory level of the vast majority of the policies; (2) the reliance on a wide network of local authorities to implement AT policy; and (3) the focus placed on individuals to change their behaviour. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that despite a large number of policy publications from a range of government departments claiming to promote AT, little has actually changed in this time period in terms of a national agenda. Despite the successive policies, it seems there is little appetite on behalf of recent governments to make widespread infrastructural changes, where instead the focus has largely been on persuading the individual to seek more active modes of travel, increasingly for their own, individual 'health' gains. Highlights •The paper is based on documentary analysis of available official policy documents from UK government on active travel since 1996 • The findings reveal the largely rhetorical, advisory level of the vast majority of the policies, which contributes to a lack of overall success in promoting active travel • The lack of success is compounded further by a reliance on a wide network of local authorities to implement active travel policy, when most local authorities appear more concerned with transport issues related to motorised vehicles • The findings reveal that active travel policy has becoming increasingly focussed on health gains that might be made from increasing the number of trips made by bicycle • The overwhelming focus of the policy documents analysed, however, is on encouraging individuals to change their behaviour, a process regarded as 'healthism', and one most sociologists of health suggest is likely to fail as a result • We conclude by suggesting that if the government is serious about wanting to see a 'step change' in the way in which people travel, particularly over shorter distances, then there is a need to have a more forceful approach to implementing policy within local authorities at the same time as making more substantial infrastructure changes to encourage cycling [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Public health policy development is subject to a range of stakeholders presenting their arguments to influence opinion on the best options for policy action. This paper compares stakeholders' positions in the discourse networks of two pricing policy debates in the United Kingdom: minimum unit pricing for alcohol (MUP) and the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL). Design Discourse analysis was combined with network visualization to create representations of stakeholders' positions across the two policy debates as they were represented in 11 national UK newspapers. Setting: United Kingdom. Observations: For the MUP debate 1924 statements by 152 people from 87 organizations were coded from 348 articles. For the SDIL debate 3883 statements by 214 people from 175 organizations were coded from 511 articles. Measurements Network analysis techniques were used to identify robust argumentative similarities and maximize the identification of network structures. Network measures of size, connectedness and cohesion were used to compare discourse networks. Findings The networks for both pricing debates involve a similar range of stakeholder types and form clusters representing policy discourse coalitions. The SDIL network is larger than the MUP network, particularly the proponents' cluster, with more than three times as many stakeholders. Both networks have tight clusters of manufacturers, think‐tanks and commercial analysts in the opponents' coalition. Public health stakeholders appear in both networks, but no health charity or advocacy group is common to both. Conclusion: A comparison of the discourse in the UK press during the policy development processes for minimum unit pricing for alcohol and the soft drinks industry levy suggests greater cross‐sector collaboration among policy opponents than proponents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a personal memoir of historical work at the Addiction Research Unit, in particular the genesis of the book Opium and the People. This topic had policy significance for US drug policy and a competing US study was funded. The development of the substance use history field is surveyed, and its expansion in recent times through a focused professional association and a critical mass of researchers in the area, covering a wide range of topics. The politics of using history in this area can be problematic. History now sits at the policy table more easily, but there is still a tendency for professionals in the field to use (and misuse) it, rather than calling on the interpretive and challenging approach they would obtain from professional historians. The paper calls for historians and others to move beyond a substance specific focus and to avoid the tendency for 'naive history' implicit in using only digitized industry archives as the sole source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the political origins of the National Treatment Outcomes Research Study (NTORS) and the outputs and impacts of the study. NTORS was designed to meet the request of the Health Secretary and of a Government Task Force for evidence about the effectiveness of the national addiction treatment services. NTORS was a prospective cohort study which investigated outcomes over a 5-year period of drug users admitted to four major treatment modalities: in-patient treatment, residential rehabilitation, methadone reduction and methadone maintenance programmes. The study investigated treatments delivered under day-to-day operating conditions. Outcomes showed substantial reductions in illicit drug use and reduced injecting risk behaviours. These changes were accompanied by improved psychological and physical health and by reductions in criminal behaviour. However, not all outcomes were so positive. There was a continuing mortality rate in the cohort of about 1% per year, and many clients continued to drink heavily throughout the 5-year follow-up. NTORS findings informed and influenced UK addiction treatment policy both at the time and subsequently. The findings were influential in supporting an immediate increase in funding for treatment, and Government Ministers have repeatedly cited NTORS as evidence of the effectiveness of addiction treatment. One finding that received political attention was that of the cost savings provided by treatment through reductions in crime. This important finding led to an unanticipated consequence of NTORS; namely, the greater focus on crime reduction that has increasingly been promoted as a political and social priority for drug misuse treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on research investigating the impact of health imperatives around obesity, diet and exercise on the actions of teachers and pupils in schools, this paper offers a reflexive account of the relationships between the 'noise' of obesity discourse in the public domain, policies forged to tackle health issues and the realities of teaching in schools. Our analyses suggest that intersections of bio-policies, body pedagogies and human agents forge assemblages of meaning that frame and regulate but cannot determine either teachers' or young people's lives. Teachers and pupils experience the capriciousness of policies as they flow through specific school contexts and intersect with 'local' institutional cultures, expectations and interests. We suggest that Basil Bernstein's concepts and poststructural social theory prove useful when addressing how the aforementioned processes are emplaced, enacted and embodied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there are important differences between the public health policies of Conservative governments of the 1980s and 90s and the current British Labour government a significant element of continuity is the emphasis on government facilitating informed choice by consumers as a key public health objective. The article considers such approaches to disclosure of health risks with respect to policy on the regulation of smoking. It argues that regulation, in this area, under the Conservatives has not served to ‘empower’ consumers and that such regulatory weaknesses appear to be replicated under its successor. Defects in regulation are traced with respect to disclosure of information on tar and nicotine ‘yields’; and cigarette design with respect to tip ventilation and the use of additives to increase nicotine delivery. It is argued that lack of disclosure and insufficient controls on the industry have led to consumers being misled concerning the relative risks of different types of cigarette. Equally, it is also likely that such deficiencies have enabled manufacturers to represent some cigarette types as ‘safe’. The paper concludes by arguing that, while the weaknesses of the current regulatory regime suggest the need for measures of increased disclosure and control of product design, there is also an unresolved tension as to whether ‘empowerment’ is an intrinsic goal of policy or a means to the achievement of public health targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]