UK: Around 40% of Local Authorities Cutting Budgets for Smoking Cessation Services

Source from:  The Guardian 01/13/2016

Around 40% of local authorities in England are cutting their budgets to their services to help people give up smoking, according to research by the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health.

The report, published on Wednesday by Cancer Research UK, asked tobacco control experts from 126 local authorities across England about their smoking services, their budgets and how well their services were integrating since moving to local government from primary care trusts in 2013. It found that in two out of five areas funding was being cut back and that, in addition, half of all services were being reconfigured or recommissioned.

The government announced cuts to local council public health budgets of 3.9% a year over the next five years in the spending review 2015. This is in addition to the £200m extra in-year cuts proposed in the budget last year. It is feared that smoking cessation services will be hit hard because they are not services that councils are obliged to provide.

The report did find that the benefits of joining local government were widely acknowledged, with 86% of tobacco control experts saying they valued the constructive relationships with their colleagues in other departments and 60% saying they valued the integration of tobacco control into the wider strategy and business of the council.

Another 75% said the biggest difficulty in moving to local government was the pressure on tobacco control and smoking cessation budgets. A quarter (24%) felt negative about the future of tobacco control, but more than half (59%) were positive.

George Butterworth, Cancer Research UK's tobacco policy manager, said a levy on the tobacco industry should be used to fund smoking cessation services. "These findings are a useful insight into the state of play for stop-smoking services and provide a warning that their lifesaving work needs to remain a priority," he said.

Thousands of people will want to quit smoking this new year, and free stop-smoking services provided by local councils give vital support to help them achieve that goal. These services are under threat from a lack of sustainable funding. The government must establish a sustainable funding model for local tobacco control and stop-smoking services before they are eroded further.

"We're urging local government to remain committed to reducing smoking rates, and for national leadership to keep this issue on the agenda. We believe the tobacco industry should pay for the damage their products cause. A levy on the tobacco industry should be used to provide sustainable funding for stop-smoking services and mass media campaigns to help people quit."

Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy for ASH and one of the report's authors, said: "Our research shows that most local councils take their responsibility to reduce smoking very seriously. But they are facing enormous funding pressures. The services we have to support smokers to quit are world class but they are being eroded. "

"The wider role that councils play in tackling smoking – such as enforcing existing laws on smoking and selling tobacco – is also under threat. We need national action now to ensure that local authorities have the tools and the funding to do everything they can to reduce smoking rates." Enditem