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** 25 November 2022
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** UK
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** ‘Recklessly irresponsible’ Brexit rush to axe EU laws is putting safety standards at risk, watchdogs warn (#1)
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** Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Systems (ICS) plans to cut staffing by a fifth (#2)
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** Jeremy Hunt’s plans likely to degrade public services, says report (#3)
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** Opinion: Smokefree 2030 by Bob Blackman MP (#4)
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** Middlesbrough store forced to close over illegal tobacco sales (#5)
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** 100,000 illegal cigarettes seized by Humberside Police in strong week for Operation Galaxy (#6)
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** Parliamentary activity
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** Written Question (#7)
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** Health and Social Care Select Committee evidence session: Cancer services update (#8)
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** Links of the week
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** 7 things to know about e-cigarettes and quitting smoking (#9)
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** Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England - April 2021 to March 2022 (#10)
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** Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England, Quarter 1, 2022-23 (#11)
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** UK
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** ‘Recklessly irresponsible’ Brexit rush to axe EU laws is putting safety standards at risk, watchdogs warn

Standards on food safety, animal welfare and consumer rights are all under threat from the government’s “recklessly irresponsible” bid to axe EU laws in a matter of months, safety watchdogs have warned.

Civil servants are rushing to rewrite reams of existing regulations because the former so-called Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg wants to cleanse the country of rules that originated in Brussels by the end of 2023.

Trading standards officers have now said they are concerned that ministers’ plans for the Retained EU Law Bill could see dangerous products end up on British shelves.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), the professional body for the trading standards profession has written to Mr Sunak along with a dozen other organisations including the charity Unchecked UK, the UK Weighing Federation, the Child Accident Prevention Trust, and Action on Smoking and Health.

“Rushing through legislation which could undermine these protections would have potentially disastrous consequences, and could ultimately put lives at risk,” they say in their letter to the prime minister. Under the government’s proposed timetable, thousands of pieces of complex and vitally important legislation will need to be reviewed, rewritten – and, potentially, scrapped – in a little over a year. Mistakes, omissions and contradictions are inevitable.”

Source: The Independent, 25 November 2022

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** Editorial note: The retained EU law bill could have a significant impact on tobacco control as EU-derived legislation includes regulation of e-cigarettes and cigarette health warnings.

See also: Joint letter to the PM from CTSI and other organisations ([link removed])
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Read here ([link removed])


** Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Systems (ICS) plans to cut staffing by a fifth

A financially troubled integrated care board has told staff it has to cut the pay bill by 20 per cent, HSJ has learned.

Lancashire and South Cumbria (L&SC) integrated care board has launched a voluntary severance scheme for staff, in a bid to ease its financial problems, which it hopes will deliver the downsizing which is required.
It comes after NHS England leaders said ICBs would need to rationalise their workforce.

L&SC chief executive Kevin Lavery said there are no plans for compulsory redundancies but warned a low take-up of the voluntary scheme would mean cuts to patient services.

The ICB reported a £20m deficit after six months of the current financial year, against a planned break-even position.

Lavery goes on to say “If we get low take-up [of the mutually agreed resignation scheme], what does Plan B look like? It won’t involve restructuring and compulsory redundancies; it will not involve that.

What it will involve is an extended vacancy freeze, a lot of control and grip on discretionary spend and it’ll involve cuts to healthcare services that we fund for our communities. That’s how we’ll balance the books.”

Source: Health Service Journal, 25 November 2022
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** Jeremy Hunt’s plans likely to degrade public services, says report

Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement is expected to bring further degradation of public services, with even those given extra funds, such as schools and the NHS, unlikely to catch up from the damage caused by Covid, a leading thinktank has said.

The Institute for Government (IfG) said the statement, given last week, and billed by the chancellor as generous in the circumstances, was deliberately frontloaded, leaving any government after 2024 with some hugely difficult spending decisions.

Hunt’s decision to put off most spending curbs for two years from now “leaves some very difficult spending decisions for the next government, whoever that may be”, the report says.

Nick Davies, the IfG’s programme director, and one of the report’s authors, said: “Most services will be performing worse in 2025 than they were 15 years earlier – with devastating consequences for the people who rely on them. This is a poisoned inheritance for whoever forms the next government.”

Areas given extra money, such as the NHS, schools and local government, should be able to meet demands caused by demographic changes and inflationary pressures, the report says. “But they will struggle to do much more than that. In each, performance is currently far below pre-pandemic levels and the money provided is unlikely to be sufficient to return them to those levels.”

Source: The Guardian, 24 November 2022

See also: Institute for Government- What does the autumn statement mean for public services? ([link removed])
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** Opinion: Smokefree 2030 by Bob Blackman MP

Writing for the Parliament Politics Magazine, Bob Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East and Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on smoking and health reflects on his strong support for tobacco control policies since becoming an MP in 2010. He also highlights the importance of achieving the Government’s target of making England smoke free by 2030.

Blackman writes that many teenagers take up smoking every year and notes that most adult smokers will have started their addiction before they were 20. He accuses the tobacco industry of immorally thriving on this market, marketing their products as “trendy”.

He goes on to discuss the cost of smoking to the NHS and to peoples’ health, with smokers being significantly more likely to develop a range of illnesses including heart disease, various cancers and COPD.

Blackman highlights his role in the successful campaign to introduce standardised tobacco packaging and references the recommendations made in the Khan review of smokefree 2030 policies, in particular the need for levy on tobacco manufacturers to pay for the measures needed to end smoking.

Blackman concludes by stating that he will continue to champion tobacco control measures to help “stamp out this harmful killer.”

Source: The Parliament Politics, 25 November 2022
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** Middlesbrough store forced to close over illegal tobacco sales

A Middlesbrough store has been shut down after being caught selling illegal tobacco products. The shop will be out of action for at least three months following the seizure in September of more than 6,600 cigarettes and 4.5kg of hand rolling tobacco from the premise and linked vehicles.

When Middlesbrough Council Trading Standards visited the shop last Friday (November 11) to give notice of intention to apply for a closure order, officers found and seized a further 36 packets of illicit cigarettes and 250g of hand rolling tobacco.

Judith Hedgley, Middlesbrough Council’s Head of Public Protection, said: “Illicit tobacco is harmful to our local communities as it reduces the impact of health improvement measures designed to reduce the prevalence of smoking and reduce health inequalities, and it brings crime into neighbourhoods.”

Source: Middlesbrough Council, 25 November 2022
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Read here ([link removed])


** 100,000 illegal cigarettes seized by Humberside Police in strong week for Operation Galaxy

Operation Galaxy, which targets criminals across the area causing communities the most harm, has already seen some positive results right across the Humberside region.

In four days of action, seven warrants have been carried out and there have been more than 30 arrests.

On Monday 14 November, officers joined Trading Standards officers on warrants in Hull, where nearly 100,000 illicit cigarettes were uncovered, along with nearly 600 packets of tobacco, 1000 illegal vapes and a substantial amount of cash.

The operation’s intensification period continues next week.

Source: Hull daily mail, 18 November 2022
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Read here ([link removed])


** Parliamentary activity
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** Written Question

Asked by Peter Dowd, Labour, Bootle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November to Question 74727 on Smoking, if he will publish data on whether England is on schedule to achieve or exceed targets on adult smoking.

Answered by Neil O'Brien, Minister for Primary Care and Public Health

In the 2017 Tobacco Control Plan, the Government set the ambition for adult smoking rates in England to reduce to 12% or less by the end 2022. In 2011 rates were 19.8%, and in 2019 rates were 13.9%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data from 2020 is not comparable to previous years. However, based on the trend to 2019, we expect to meet our 2022 target.
National smoking prevalence data for 2022 will be available in 2023 through the Office for National Statistics' ‘Adult smoking habits in the UK' publication.

Source: Hansard, 24 November 2022
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Read transcript ([link removed])


** Health and Social Care Select Committee evidence session: Cancer services update

On 23rd November the Health and Social Care Select Committee held an evidence session on cancer services with Dame Cally Palmer, National Cancer Director for NHS England and Professor Peter Johnson, National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England. During the session, Steve Brine MP, chair of the Select Committee:

• States that the sustainability of the NHS depends on prevention of ill health and that this is particularly the case in relation to cancers
• Asks Palmer whether we do enough on prevention, especially in relation to smoking, obesity and alcohol
• Asks about smokefree objectives, noting that there are considerable inequalities regarding rates of smoking
• Asks about the polluter pays principle and whether a levy should be introduced on the profits of the tobacco industry to fund tobacco control.

Palmer responds that successful outcomes in cancer patients relies on prevention, swift diagnosis and precision treatment. She adds that there is more to do when discussing prevention. In response to rates of smoking, she agrees that there needs to be more targeted support in areas where smoking is particularly prevalent. She says that arguing for or against a levy is outside of her brief.

Source: Parliament Live, 23 November 2022
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Watch here ([link removed])


** Links of the week
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** 7 things to know about e-cigarettes and quitting smoking

In this blog, Jamie Hartmann-Boyce from the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group and Martin Dockrell from the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities share 7 things you need to know about e-cigarettes and quitting smoking, with evidence from the Cochrane Living Review of E-cigarettes and Smoking Cessation.

Source: Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, 23 November 2022
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Read here ([link removed])


** Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England - April 2021 to March 2022

This quarterly report presents results from the monitoring of the NHS Stop Smoking Services in England during the period April 2021 to March 2022.

Source: NHS, 24 November 2022
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Read here ([link removed])


** Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England, Quarter 1, 2022-23

This report presents statistics on women’s smoking status at time of delivery. 8.9% of mothers were known to be smokers at the time of delivery in Q1 2022-23, compared to 9.4% in Q4 2021-22.

Source: NHS, 24 November 2022
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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