The storm clouds gathering over the government’s Responsibility Deal grew ever more menacing today as the Association of Directors of Public Health became the latest body to walk out.

This is the group representing 98% of the UK’s directors of public health and it joins the likes of Cancer Research UK, the UK Health Forum and the Faculty of Public Health in quitting the Deal following decisions by ministers to put minimum alcohol pricing and plain packs for cigarettes on hold.

The Responsibility Deal has been plagued by accusations it lacks the support of health experts since a host of key groups refused to sign up back in March 2011, and it’s difficult to see how it can survive this latest episode.

Food and drink companies point out, quite rightly, that the issues that prompted this recent spate of walk-outs are not in fact ones the Responsibility Deal was set up to tackle.

But the government linked the two issues when it explained its decision to shelve minimum pricing and set out what it would do instead. It said earlier this month: “we have already seen action from industry through the Public Health Responsibility Deal… this action is driving change”, before calling on industry to do even more to “deliver the changes needed”.

Now, as ministers jet off on their holidays, there has been total silence from the DH on what it plans to do next. Confronted with the news of the latest departures, the DH sent out an identical stock response to one it gave when the first bunch of NGOs quit, including the somewhat ironic line: “we are not complacent”. Meanwhile, some members of the key committees steering the Deal have indicated to The Grocer they are considering leaving it, too.

Where does all this leave the companies who have taken massive steps to improve the health of their products across food and drink since the Deal was launched?

It seems more likely the Deal could be scrapped, with firms instead signing up to a raft of targets and agreements drawn up by the DH – more akin to the situation in Scotland.

As events north of the border have shown, that can lead to a far more interventionist strategy, of the sort health minister Anna Soubry claimed only a couple of weeks ago she was determined to fight.

If the DH still has faith in the Responsibility Deal and wants companies and health experts to treat it seriously, it needs to get a grip and set out its future plans – rather than simply hoping the current crisis will go away.

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