Thank you for contacting me about actions the Government is taking to meet its ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030.
As the single leading behavioural cause of preventable death across our country, responsible for around 64,000 premature deaths per year, reducing smoking is crucial for ensuring we live longer, healthier lives.
The Government has made significant progress in this area with smoking rates the lowest on record, currently at 13 per cent, thanks to duty on cigarettes being doubled since 2010 and continued funding of stop smoking services. This year, £35 million has been committed to the NHS so that all smokers admitted to hospital will be offered NHS-funded tobacco treatment services.
As part of a world-first national scheme, almost 1 in 5 of all smokers in England will be provided with a vape starter kit alongside behavioural support to help them quit the habit. Later this year, local authorities will be invited to establish a scheme which suits local needs, including deciding which populations to prioritise.
You may be interested to know that the Government intends to publish a Major Conditions Strategy, recognising that reducing smoking will be central to tackling the risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and the cause of seven out of ten cases of lung cancer. A call for evidence to gather views on how to tackle these risk factors has recently concluded, and the strategy will be published in due course.
I believe Cancer Research UK’s smoke free campaign complements the Government’s ambition to make the UK smoke-free by 2030, and I am happy to commit to championing this cause in Parliament.