View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** 05 May 2021
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Boris Johnson delays social care reform amid cost fears (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------


** New “levelling up” adviser to steer government’s agenda (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------


** HMRC introduces new checks on tobacco track and trace codes (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


** US: Maine lawmakers propose new bills to increase tobacco taxes (#4)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Jordan fears double pandemic as smoking rates hit an all-time high (#5)
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------


** Boris Johnson is expected to delay the announcement of plans for overhauling social care funding until after the Queen’s Speech over concerns in government that it will require cuts or tax rises worth up to £5 billion a year.

The prime minister met Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, last month to discuss funding for social care, and more talks are expected in coming weeks. Johnson has taken a keen interest in a decade-long plan from Sir Andrew Dilnot, an expert in social care funding, that would cap care costs for individuals at £45,000 with the state covering the rest.

The Queen’s Speech, on May 11, setting out the government’s legislative programme, is expected to mention the prime minister’s promise to come forward with plans for the funding of social care this year but will not give detail.

A Whitehall source said: “They’re still going through the options. The prime minister is keen on the Dilnot offering, but the cost is significant, especially as the country emerges from the pandemic. It’s too early to make a decision.”

The Treasury has been reluctant in the past to agree to costly reforms. A cap on costs alone would not deal with those denied help or improve the quality of care. Chancellors have been wary of spending billions on a policy that could be criticised as doing too little.

Source: The Times, 4 May 2021

See also: LGC - Social care reform expected to be delayed amid cost concerns ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed] )


**
------------------------------------------------------------


** Boris Johnson has appointed the former senior Treasury aide Neil O’Brien to oversee the government’s levelling up agenda - and announced a white paper on the subject - amid concerns there is widespread confusion over what the term means.

A statement said that levelling up “remains core to the government’s vision” despite the challenges of COVID-19. The government claims the white paper will set out “bold new policy interventions” that will “improve opportunity and boost livelihoods across the country.” The paper’s focuses will include “improving living standards, growing the private sector and increasing and spreading opportunity”, with a new Number 10 and Cabinet Office unit set up to “drive through” this work.

A senior local government source told LGC recently there was concern in the sector that “central government talks about levelling up and a focus on ‘place’ and then each department puts its own spin on what that means for them. But that defeats the point.”

O’Brien will work across Downing Street and the Cabinet Office on levelling up and will also collaborate closely with the new delivery unit. He said levelling up “has been a real passion of mine for many years.”

“It’s absolutely crucial that we bring opportunity to every single part of the UK by making sure our spending, tax, investment and regeneration priorities bring about meaningful change,” O’Brien added.

Source: LGC, 4 May 2021

See also: Financial Times - Confusion over UK ‘levelling-up’ plan prompts Boris Johnson to hire new adviser ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])


**
------------------------------------------------------------


** HMRC has introduced new checks on the codes given to retailers to ensure that they are correctly registered for the UK track and trace system.

Businesses involved in the tobacco supply chain have an economic operator ID (EOID) code for their business and a facility ID (FID) code for each site. Over the next eight weeks (3 May to 27 June 2021), any codes that the track and trace system will not recognise will generate a warning, allowing businesses time to investigate by logging any issues with the ID Issuer website here.

At the end of the eight-week grace period, messages containing codes that fail the new checks will generate an error message. Retailers who receive an error message must correct the error before moving tobacco products through the supply chain.

Source: Talking Retail, 04 May 2021
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------


** Maine lawmakers are considering two bills that would raise taxes on cigarettes and ban flavoured tobacco products state-wide.

The first bill would raise the taxes on cigarettes from $2 per pack of 20 cigarettes to $4 per pack of 20 cigarettes, beginning November 1 2021. Because the tax on cigarettes determines the tax on other tobacco products, this bill would increase the tax on other tobacco products, such as cigars and smokeless tobacco, by the same percentage change as the increase in the tax on cigarettes. This bill also ensures future funding for the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program by requiring funding for the program to be a minimum of the actual revenue collected on the sales of all tobacco products.

The second bill would ban the sale and distribution of flavoured tobacco products and flavoured e-cigarettes.
------------------------------------------------------------


**
Source: WGME, 4 May 2021
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])


**
------------------------------------------------------------


** Jordan has one of the highest rates of tobacco smokers in the world, with 70% of men smoking, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015 — second only to Indonesia, at 76%.

Already saddled with one of the world’s highest smoking rates, Jordan has seen the numbers taking up smoking soar since coronavirus restrictions began last year, sparking fears of a double epidemic.

A survey by the University of Jordan’s Centre for Strategic Studies in April 2020 found 52% said they were smoking more since pandemic restrictions began. Rates for women in Jordan are lower, as smoking is frowned upon in traditional Muslim society. But while only a fifth of women smoke tobacco or use e-cigarettes, over three-quarters suffer from secondhand exposure smoke at home due to male family members smoking.

Faced with the problem, the government has increased the number of addiction centres to help people stop smoking from 5 to 20, launched a social media campaign and set up telephone hotlines.

Hala Boukerdenna, a WHO official in Jordan, stressed the need “to make additional efforts, especially to protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke.”

Source: Arab Weekly, 1 May 2021
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed] )
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])

For more information email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
@ASHorguk ([link removed])

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.

============================================================
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
Unit 2.9, The Foundry
17 Oval Way
London
SE11 5RR

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])