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** 30 March 2021
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** UK
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** MPs call for tobacco companies to pay for tobacco litter (#1)
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** New health promotion unit to use Singapore-style rewards to prompt people to be healthier (#2)
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** 'Deeply disappointed' minority ethnic leaders demand NHSE ensure diversity in top ICS roles (#3)
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** Cameron 'blocked rule change' that might have prevented him lobbying for Greensill (#4)
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** International
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** Imperial Brands grows slightly as COVID-19 changes tobacco consumer patterns (#5)
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** Study: Smoking rates high amongst surgery patients (#6)
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** UK
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Ministers are considering the introduction of an extended producer responsibility scheme for cigarette filters in England. The scheme would be made possible via new powers currently being legislated for in the Environment Bill.

At present, the bill for cleaning up cigarette filters from streets falls on councils and is officially estimated to cost around £40 million a year. Cigarette filters remain the most common form of litter and efforts to get the tobacco industry to voluntarily take financial responsibility for the disposal of filters have been unsuccessful.

An extended producer responsibility scheme for cigarette filters would require the tobacco industry to pay the full disposal costs. The Government reportedly prefers a regulatory approach on this matter “to ensure that the industry takes sufficient financial responsibility for the litter created by it’s products.”

The proposal is part of a drive to address single-use plastics, such as cigarette filters, which can stay in the environment for many years and release these chemicals into the air, soil and water, harming plants and wildlife.

Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow said: “We must all take action to protect our environment. We are committed to making sure that the tobacco industry plays its part. That is why we are exploring how cigarette companies can be held fully accountable for the unsightly scourge of litter created by their products.”

Public Health Minister, Jo Churchill said: “We are making excellent progress in our ambition to be a smoke-free country by 2030, with smoking rates at a record low. […] We will continue to look into further ways we can reduce the burden tobacco has on our health and our streets, both through the tobacco control plan, due to be published later this year, and the Environment Bill.”

Source: Daily Mail, 30 March 2021

See also: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Press Release - Government explores next steps to clean up tobacco litter in England ([link removed])
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HSJ understands that the new Office for Health Promotion, announced yesterday, will explore the use of Singapore-style incentive schemes involving partnerships with the public and private sectors to encourage people to encourage healthier behaviour.

One example of the kind of approach that could be expected from the new health promotion body DHSC gave is Singapore’s Health Promotion Board and its “digital public health schemes”. The schemes see citizens given digital exercise trackers to help them monitor their progress and awarded ‘’healthpoints’’ for different units of exercise that translate into rewards. In the latest ‘‘National Steps Challenge” round, citizens who take between 5,000 and 7,499 steps a day will earn 10 healthpoints. Healthpoints can then be converted into vouchers that can be redeemed at participating commercial outfits.

Source: HSJ, 29 March 2021
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** A group of senior leaders have written to NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens to express a ‘deep sense of disappointment’ at the lack of progress made to address racial inequalities in the NHS and to call for new ICSs to be representative of the ethnic diversity in their communities.

The letter, from the Chairs and Chief Executives Ethnic Minority Network, which consists of 19 local leaders, and signed by co-chairs Raj Jain and Patricia Miller, chief executives of Salford Royal Foundation Trust and Dorset County Hospital FT, point out that just eight of 231 NHS provider trusts are led by minority ethnic chief executives.
The letter says that the recent report on the workforce race equality standard provided “clear evidence that very little progress has been made in terms of the creation of positive inclusive cultures” over the last 20 years, with “many areas” seeing performance deteriorate. In November 2020, analysis by HSJ revealed nearly 100 trusts had no ‘very senior managers’ who are declared to be from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background.

The letter’s authors call new ICSs an opportunity to make ethnic diversity and inclusion “a clear priority of equal importance” to the headline national priorities, and outline three proposals to ensure that this happens. First, executive officers – not just non-executives – within ICSs should be representative of their communities; second, ethnic diversity and inclusion should be a part of every NHS board’s core business, with directors having to demonstrate their actions in tackling racism; third, every ICS should develop a 10-year strategy, with annual milestones, for reducing inequalities.

Source: HSJ, 30 March 2021

See also:
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** HSJ - Minority ethnic candidate chances of recruitment in NHS fall back, finds NHSE ([link removed])
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** Chairs and Chief Executives Ethnic Minority Network - Letter to Sir Simon Stevens ([link removed])
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** A Labour has accused David Cameron of blocking rule changes that could have stopped the former prime minister from personally lobbying Whitehall officials on behalf of collapsed lender Greensill Capital without publicly declaring his interests. Then Prime Minister, in January 2014 Cameron ordered Conservative peers to vote against Labour proposed amendments to the Lobbying Act of 2014 that would have required in-house lobbyists to log their lobbying efforts in the public register. The bill was defeated by 218 votes to 185.

Cameron reportedly told friends he was in line for a $60m windfall if Greensill successfully listed on the stock market, according to The Times. The failed amendment meant there was no official record of Cameron’s attempts to persuade officials to give Greensill special access to hundreds of thousands of pounds of emergency Covid loans at the start of the pandemic, something which would have bent the rules. Cameron is said to have contacted the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on his private phone as part of his efforts. Greensill collapsed into administration earlier this month.

Cameron was cleared on Tuesday 23rd March of any potential wrongdoing by a short-lived investigation by the registrar in charge of enforcing lobbying laws, but a spokesperson for trade body the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) says that that is simply proof that lobbying rules should be tightened because existing legislation fails to provide a “level playing field on transparent and ethical lobbying” by excluding all in-house lobbyist and some third parties like lawyers and management consultants.“There could surely be no more compelling proof that the Lobbying Act needs urgent revision than the fact that former prime ministers who become lobbyists are exempt from its provisions,” Herbert added.

And the Committee on Standards in Public Life, chaired by a former head of MI5, has privately indicated that it will consider submissions made by the opposition Labour party. The standards committee has no remit to investigate specific allegations about particular individuals. However, insiders told the FT that the Labour complaint would be included in a review by the committee into standards in public life, dubbed “Standards Matter 2”, which is due to report in the autumn. Despite lacking the ability to sanction individuals, the committee has influence over the government: its recommendations in the past have led to the creation of various standards bodies such as the “adviser on ministerial interests” and the Electoral Commission.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The government will be going further to review and improve business appointment rules, to ensure we maintain the highest standards in public life.”

Source: The Guardian, 29 March 2021

See also: Financial Times - Cameron faces probe into links with Greensill ([link removed])
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** International
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** Imperial Brands has revealed a continuation of growth in the UK, US, and Spain, but declines in Germany and Australia. It says that it expects its group net revenue to grow at least 1% in the first half of the upcoming financial year.

The company has confirmed that consumer buying patterns have changed considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic and has stressed that it is moving further into the vaping and heated tobacco market, with preparations for market trials in vaping and heated tobacco products later this year.

Imperial Brands rolled out its new five-year strategy in January, which included plans to push productivity gains to £160m a year and to do more marketing for key tobacco brands such as JPS, Gauloises, Winston, and Davidoff.

Source: City AM, 30 March 2021
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A new study has found that US surgery patients have a disproportionately high rate of smoking, which could be one reason why some of them require surgery. The study, published in the Jama Network, found that nearly a quarter of 329,000 Michigan residents who had common surgical procedures between 2012 and 2019 had smoked in the past year, compared to a smoking rate of just over 14% in the adult US population.

Among patients who had general surgeries, such as appendectomies, the highest smoking rates were among men, patients under age 45, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives. The highest rates of smoking were found among Medicaid patients and those without health insurance.

Researchers noted that a major surgery might be the most significant interaction a Medicaid or uninsured patient has with the health care system, representing a ‘’teachable moment’’ to encourage them to quit.


Source: Medical Xpress, 29 March 2021
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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