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** 02 June 2021
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** UK
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** Hancock broke ministerial code over the family firm’s NHS deal (#1)
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** BAT faces questions over links to state-owned factory in Belarus (#2)
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** Talk Radio: Smokefree plans for Oxfordshire (#3)
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** North West: Businessman pleads guilty to possessing illegal tobacco (#4)
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** International
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** Opinion: More needs to be done to warn people of the dangers of smoking (#5)
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** UK
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** The government’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Lord Geidt, has ruled that the health secretary breached the ministerial code by not declaring a firm run by his sister and brother-in-law had been put on a framework to supply the NHS.
But Lord Geidt said he recognised “[Matt] Hancock acted with integrity throughout, and this event should in no way impugn his good character or ministerial record.”
HSJ revealed last month that Topwood — a company wholly owned by Mr Hancock’s family — had been awarded a framework contract for waste disposal services with NHS Shared Business Services in 2019, the year after Mr Hancock became health secretary. This connection was not included in ministerial declarations Mr Hancock made both before and after the company was awarded the contract.
In his annual report, Lord Geidt said: “I believe there to be a danger that a reasonable person might perceive this link to represent a conflict of interest, and that it should have been declared at the time.” However, he goes on to say the scale of NHS operations in England were very broad and “the activity of NHS SBS may have been very far from the secretary of state’s main focus.”
NHS SBS is a joint venture between the Department of Health and Social Care and IT firm Sopra Steria, which provides various back-office functions to NHS organisations. Mr Hancock’s failure to declare the interest was “a result of his lack of knowledge and in no way deliberate and therefore, in technical terms, a minor breach of the ministerial code,” the report added.
But Lord Geidt pointed out Mr Hancock’s sister and brother-in-law were likely to know he was secretary of state when Topwood secured the contract. “Either the secretary of state’s sister and/or brother-in-law failed to raise this award with Mr Hancock, or nothing had otherwise been brought to Mr Hancock’s attention such that he would have had reason to enquire,” he added. He also said Mr Hancock acted “properly and honestly” in declaring in the Commons’ register of members’ interests when he was given a 20% stake in Topwood earlier this year and seeking advice on this.
Source: HSJ, 28 May 2021
See also: Annual report by the Independent adviser on minister’s interests ([link removed])
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Britain’s biggest cigarette company faces questions over its links to the Belarus regime. A state-owned factory - Neman Tobacco Factory accused of fuelling smuggling produces millions of packets of its top brands each year.
Neman Tobacco Factory carries out production for British American Tobacco (BAT), making Rothmans and Pall Mall products for its domestic market.
But police seizures in the UK show illicit packets bearing their logos, and Belarusian health warnings were uncovered in recent raids in Hull and Sunderland. Around 10% of the 5.5 billion cigarettes sold each year illegally in the UK are estimated to have come from Belarus, and experts claim most are made at the Neman factory.
MPs and activists have questioned whether BAT and other British firms should be maintaining ties with Belarus.
Source: iNews, 31 May 2021
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** Yesterday, 1 June 2021, the chief executive of ASH, Deborah Arnott, appeared on Talk Radio to discuss Oxfordshire County Council’s announcement that it will consider extending smokefree zones to outdoor spaces, including outdoor pavement dining areas, as part of a strategy to become smokefree by 2025.
Deborah explains the role that smokefree pavement licences can play in helping smokers to quit and prevent harm caused by secondhand smoke. You can watch the interview from 30:38 to 47:20.
Source: Talk Radio, 1 June 2021
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Listen Here ([link removed] )
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** A business owner has pleaded guilty to possessing thousands of illicit cigarettes and tobacco following an investigation by Cumbria Trading Standards.
Barry Bray, 74, appeared before Workington Magistrates Court this week, charged with having more than 22,000 illicit cigarettes and counterfeit hand-rolling tobacco. Barry was given a 12-month community order, 100 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £5,135 in costs. The goods were ordered to be forfeited and will be destroyed.
Councillor Celia Tibble, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for Trading Standards, said: “When these counterfeit products are sold, at considerably below the price of the legal product, they undermine the efforts to reduce the prevalence of smoking. They also encourage people who want to quit to maintain their habit.
“We will not tolerate the illegal sales of tobacco and will continue to take firm action to stop this type of activity by using our enforcement powers against those we catch. Our officers routinely act on intelligence we receive, as they did in this case, so I would encourage consumers to continue to report those involved in selling illicit tobacco, because their valuable information can significantly aid our investigations.”
Source: News and Star, 1 June 2021
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** International
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** Luo Jie, an editorial cartoonist at China Daily, discusses the need to strengthen tobacco control measures and create awareness as over 1 million people die of tobacco-related diseases every year in China.
Luo makes several recommendations that would help eliminate the harms caused by tobacco:
First, “the central government [in China] should accelerate and upgrade tobacco control legislation.” Luo points out that introducing “special tobacco control laws at the national level” would help “guide and standardise local tobacco control.”
Second, “stricter law enforcement is needed to ensure tobacco control laws and regulations are not violated.” He argues that for “proper implementation of the tobacco control laws and regulations, it is necessary to assign responsibility and supervision to particular departments, and to hold those who fail to fulfil their responsibilities to account.”
Finally, Luo points out the need to publicise the harmful side effects of smoking as this would encourage more smokers to quit and bring down the number of people who die from tobacco-related diseases.
Source: China Daily, 2 June 2021
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