Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, prior to the change of terms and conditions attached to all grant agreement letters issued by public-sector grant providers to recipients of grant funding being announced by the Cabinet Office on 6 February, due diligence was undertaken to ensure that that policy complies with Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requires governments to protect public health policy from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. The grant funding clause announced on 6 February 2016 helps protect the taxpayer by ensuring that grants are only used for the purposes for which they are intended. It is therefore entirely consistent with the aforementioned Article.