Swindon Borough Council has joined other local authorities from across England in calling for the Government to bring forward a new Tobacco Control Plan for England and to introduce a ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco manufacturers.
The Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, Councillor Brian Ford, has signed a letter with other councillors urging the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Right Honourable Steve Barclay MP, to bring about the changes.
It follows a new report from Cancer Research UK, which warns that the UK Government is almost a decade behind achieving its target for England to be smokefree by 2030 (defined as five per cent or fewer people smoking).
[1] As it stands, there is currently no Tobacco Control Plan for England; the previous plan expired at the end of 2022 [2] and the status of its replacement is unclear.
The letter, coordinated by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and Cancer Research UK, highlights the significant financial pressure smoking places on local councils and the NHS, with an estimated £3.6bn spent on smoking-related health and social care in England every year. This is in addition to £13.2bn each year in lost economic productivity resulting from premature death and disability caused by smoking. [3]
The letter’s authors argue that bold national action to reduce smoking rates would help to ease the pressure on household budgets and put money back into the pockets of struggling families. The average smoker who quits successfully will see their disposable income rise by around £2,450 a year. [4]
Smoking is the leading cause of death and cancer in the UK, leading to 125,000 deaths per year and around 150 new cancer cases every day. A ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco manufacturers would raise an estimated £700m per year which could be used to fund measures to help people who smoke to quit. [5]
In Swindon alone, it is estimated that 12.5 per cent of the population over the age of 18 smoke (22,743 adults) and it kills approximately 233 people a year (around four deaths per week).
Smoking-related illness in Swindon is associated with 2,000 hospital admissions including 105,640 GP consultations and 60,230 GP prescriptions linked to conditions such as cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Councillor Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Heath, said, “I am supporting this call to action to bring forward a new Tobacco Control Plan for England and to introduce a ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco manufacturers. Smoking remains the biggest driver of health inequalities and has a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of residents in Swindon.
“We recognise that smoking is an addiction, not a choice and supporting ways for people to quit and creating a smokefree environment remains a priority.”
Councillor David Fothergill, Chair of the Local Government Association Community Wellbeing Board, said, “Local councils have led the way in supporting people to quit smoking over the last decade and we are determined to play our part in making smokefree 2030 a reality. But we need the Government to play its part and publish an ambitious new Tobacco Control Plan for England with the measures needed to end smoking.
“This should include a ‘polluter pays’ levy to make the tobacco companies pay to fix the damage they have caused by addicting generations of people to their lethal products.”
