Smoke Free Lancashire and South Cumbria
What do we mean by ‘Smoke Free’?
In July 2024, the new Labour Government announced plans to reintroduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
The Bill commits to:
- Deliver the mission to improve healthy life expectancy and reduce the number of lives lost to the biggest killers, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
- Deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to introduce a progressive smoking ban. This will make sure the next generation can never legally be sold tobacco, paving the way for a smoke-free UK.
- Stop vapes and other consumer nicotine products (such as nicotine pouches) from being deliberately branded and advertised to appeal to children.
Why is the Smoke Free agenda important?
Although smoking prevalence has been gradually declining for a number of years, it is estimated that around 14.5% of adults in Lancashire and South Cumbria smoke which is significantly higher than the 12.7% smoking prevalence estimate for England.
Tobacco continues to cause a significant level of harm to our population:
- Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death across England, resulting in more deaths than the next five causes (obesity, alcohol, road traffic accidents, drug abuse and HIV infection) and is a huge driver of health inequalities.
- Across Lancashire and South Cumbria, smoking is responsible for around 7,600 premature deaths and over 17,000 hospital admissions each year.
- There are almost 200,000 people who smoke in Lancashire and South Cumbria who on average spend £2,486 per year on tobacco (legal and illicit).
- Smoking accrues costs due to its impact on productivity, healthcare, social care and costs of managing smoking related fires. Each year, it is estimated that smoking costs the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB £563.2M.
What are we doing as a Collaborative?
1. Tobacco Free Lancashire and South Cumbria Strategy (2023-2028)
We’ve worked together as a multi-agency alliance on the cross cutting smoke free agenda across Lancashire and South Cumbria to develop a shared strategy to stamp out tobacco harm. The strategy provides clear direction for commissioners, strategic leads and policy makers around how we can make smoke free a reality.
You can view the full strategy by clicking the link below:
Tobacco Free Lancashire and South Cumbria Strategy
2. Directors of Public Health Position Statement on Nicotine Vaping
The Directors of Public Health across Lancashire and South Cumbria have created a collaborative document with the the purpose of representing the agreed position of public health with regard to nicotine vaping. Our position has been informed by the evidence base around vaping and both local and national intelligence regarding vaping behaviours.
You can view the full position statement by clicking the link below:
Position Statement on Nicotine Vaping
3. Tobacco Free Lancashire and South Cumbria Workshop | December 2023
In December 2023, the Public Health Collaborative and the LSC ICB Population Health Team hosted a joint Tobacco Free Lancashire and South Cumbria Workshop to:
- Recap the story so far
- Review, sense check and prioritise actions for the Smoke Free LSC Strategic Group
- Think about membership
- Discuss new investment and agree whether there is potential for collaboration
- Discuss comms and engagement and agree any short-term actions.
Following the workshop, the LSC Smoke Free Strategic Group developed governance arrangements and action plans to make sure the strategy is brought to life.
Each recommendation in the strategy has been reviewed and a high level action plan identified actions at system and at place, as well as actions that would best be led by a Local Authority team or an ICB team.
4. Cumbria and Lancashire Smoke Free Places Conference | September 2024
In September 2024, the Collaborative and the LSC ICB Population Health Team hosted a joint ‘Smoke Free Places Conference’ at the Health Innovation One, Lancaster University.
Key speakers included: Abdul Razaq, Director of Public Health for Blackburn with Darwen, Claire Wells and Jim Pattison from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Paul Campbell, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Joanna Feeney, Fresh and Balance.
In the afternoon, we held workshops to explore: Smoke Free Places, Maternity and Children and the Risks of Illegal Products.
We are working on a post-conference report with key findings. actions- watch this space!
Leadership
Liz Petch, Consultant in Public Health for Blackpool is the Collaborative Leadership Group lead for Smoke Free.
The LSC Smoke Free Strategic Group, chaired by Liz Petch, oversees the Tobacco Free LSC Strategy.
More Information
You can contact the Collaborative Support Team by emailing ellie.shackleton@blackburn.gov.uk or rebecca.ramsay@blackburn.gov.uk.