Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the smoking rate in (a) local authorities in which it is above the English average and (b) other local authorities.

Jane Ellison

Local authorities, funded by the Government’s public health grant, have responsibility for providing a programme of tobacco control that meets the needs of their populations. Public Health England provides local authorities with a range of data and tools including the Local Tobacco Control Profiles for England and a local youth smoking mapping tool, to assist local priority setting and support delivery.

This Government has committed to publishing a new tobacco control plan to further reduce the prevalence of smoking in England. Addressing health inequality and local variation will be a priority of the new strategy. We are working with local authorities to develop this element of the plan to support and empower local action, where tobacco control can be tailored to the unique needs of local populations.