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** 15 July 2021
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** UK
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** Food strategy calls for £3 billion sugar and salt tax to improve UK’s diet (#1)
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** Johnson calls for more devolution to boost levelling up agenda (#2)
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** Study: Alcohol causing almost 25% more cancer cases than thought in the UK (#3)
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** Extra social care for smokers setting Suffolk council back £17 million every year (#4)
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** International
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** US Study: Lesbians, gays, and bisexuals are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes (#5)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Health and Care Bill (#6)
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** Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (#7)
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** UK
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Ministers are being urged to levy a £3 billion sugar and salt tax as part of a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to break Britain’s addiction to junk food, cut meat consumption by nearly a third and help tackle climate change.

The government-commissioned National Food Strategy, drawn up by the restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, says the UK population’s “malfunctioning” appetites and poor diets – fuelled by consumer and manufacturer’s reliance on processed food – place an unsustainable burden on the NHS and contribute to 64,000 deaths each year.

A levy of £3 per kg on sugar and £6 per kg on salt sold wholesale for use in processed foods or restaurants, and catering businesses would be a world first. This could raise £3.4 billion a year, some of which should fund an expansion of free schools meals to an extra 1.1 million children and an overhaul of Britain’s food and cooking culture.

Dimbleby believes the tax would incentivise manufacturers to reduce salt and sugar levels by reformulating products. The strategy rules out a meat tax, which proved much more unpopular in a survey than the salt and sugar taxes, calling it “politically impossible”. Instead, it suggests “nudging” consumers away from meat, such as putting veggie sausages alongside meat ones, which is known to push sales up. It also backs plant-based meats as replacements in processed foods.

Other key food strategy recommendations include:

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** Taking 5-8% of today’s farmland out of production to meet net-zero goals and the government’s target of protecting 30% of land for nature by 2030.
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** A series of initiatives to support diet in deprived communities, including trialling a scheme to let GPs prescribe fruit and vegetables to patients who are food insecure or suffering from the effects of poor diet.
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** Introducing an “eat and learn” initiative for schools, involving food lessons and the reintroduction of food A-levels to help renew declining culinary skills across every social class.
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** The environment secretary, George Eustice, thanked Dimbleby for the report and said the government would respond within six months, setting out priorities for the food system.

Source: The Guardian, 15 July 2021

See also: The national food strategy independent review for government ([link removed])

BBC news: National Food Strategy: Tax sugar and salt and prescribe veg, report says ([link removed])
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** Boris Johnson has called for greater devolution across England as a way to boost his “levelling up” agenda, urging towns and counties to approach Downing Street with ideas as to how they can boost their local economies.

“Come to us with your vision about how you will level up,” Johnson said in a speech in Coventry, one which spent considerable time detailing the problems of regional inequality but had few immediate policies. Saying the extended devolution was “not a one-size-fits-all” approach, Johnson said that while the model would be city mayors, leaders in counties, towns, and other places could seek bespoke powers in areas such as the economy and transport.

Calling a lack of local leadership one of the biggest barriers to evening up opportunities, Johnson said England remained one of the most centralised countries in Europe, and had suffered from this. More policies for levelling up are expected in a white paper on the subject due in the autumn. Johnson has faced criticism that “levelling up” largely remains a slogan and relates to a series of sometimes confusingly administered funds.

There have also been concerns about the allocation of money already distributed under the rubric of levelling up. An examination of one scheme, the community renewal fund, found that it appeared overwhelmingly skewed towards Tory-held areas, despite its stated intent to target the most deprived regions.

Source: The Guardian, 15 July 2021
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**

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** New research has found that alcohol is estimated to have caused more than 16,800 cancer cases in the UK in 2020. Almost two thirds (10,600) of cases were in men, with 6,300 in women. This accounts for 4.1% of all cancer diagnoses in the UK last year – previous estimates had put the figure at 3.3%, around 25% less.

An international team of researchers, led by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in France, studied the role of alcohol in global cancer rates. They found that almost 750,000 cases last year were linked to alcohol consumption, accounting for around 4% of all diagnoses. Globally, men accounted for 77% of alcohol-associated cancer cases. Mongolia had the highest level of cancers caused by alcohol, at 10%.

An individual’s risk of cancer increases the more alcohol they drink, the study authors said. Data showed heavy drinkers accounted for almost half (47%) of alcohol-related cancers. A heavy drinker was defined as someone who had at least six alcoholic drinks per day. “Risky” drinkers, who drink between two and six alcoholic drinks a day, accounted for 37%, but even moderate drinking – up to two drinks a day – accounted for 14% of alcohol-related cancers.

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “There’s no safe level of drinking but, whatever your drinking habits, cutting down can reduce your risk of cancer.” Ms Mitchell said minimum unit pricing, already in use in Scotland and Wales and soon to be introduced in Northern Ireland, would help counteract alcohol intake and be a “positive step” for England.

Harriet Rumgay of the IARC and the study author said: “We urgently need to raise awareness about the link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk among policymakers and the general public. Public health strategies such as reduced alcohol availability, labelling alcohol products with a health warning and marketing bans, could reduce rates of alcohol-driven cancer.”

Source: The Telegraph, 14 July 2021

See also: The Lancet Oncology - Global burden of cancer in 2020 attributable to alcohol consumption: a population-based study ([link removed](21)00279-5/fulltext)
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** A new analysis from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has revealed the significant cost of social care needs caused by smoking in Suffolk. The analyses found it cost the local council nearly £17 million in 2021 to support adults aged 50 and over with smoking-related illnesses. The analyses also found that smoking across the East of England costs the local government £128 million in social care costs every year.

ASH estimates around 15,615 people in Suffolk are receiving unpaid care from friends and family for smoking support. With a further 6,417 individuals estimated to need but are not receiving care due to smoking-attributable illnesses. ASH says that the country needs sustained investment to help people stop smoking so that the government’s ambition of a smoke-free country by 2030 can be possible.

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “Smoking has a devastating impact on our communities far beyond the tens of thousands of lives it takes every year. It profoundly undermines the quality of many people’s lives, often placing heavy demands on family and friends. Securing the government’s vision of a smoke-free country by 2030 will make all the difference. It will ease pressure on the social care system and build resilience in our communities, enabling people to live longer, healthier lives. Local authorities have a key role to play in ending smoking, but they cannot do it without additional funding. ASH backs call on the government to introduce a ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco manufacturers to pay for the support needed to end smoking in this country.”

Source: Planet Radio, 14 July 2021

See also: ASH Press Release - Smoking across England costs local government £1.2 billion in social care costs every year ([link removed] )

ASH Report - The cost of smoking to the social care system ([link removed])
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** International
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**

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** According to a new study, lesbian, gay, and bisexual cigarette smokers were more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than heterosexual smokers.

The study researchers examined national data from 2015 to 2019 of individuals ages 18 and older by sex and sexual identity. They found that 54% of bisexual female smokers preferred menthol cigarettes compared with 50% of lesbian/ gay female smokers and 39% of smokers overall.

Ollie Ganz, the lead author of the study, said: “There is a lot of research showing that bisexual females report disproportionately high rates of substance use, including cigarette smoking. Our study confirms that this is also the case for menthol cigarettes. Given what we know about the impact of menthol on initiation, nicotine dependence and quit success, these high rates of menthol use among bisexual female smokers may be exacerbating cigarette smoking disparities.”

Source: News Wise, 13 July 2021

See also: Nicotine and Tobacco Research - Cigarette Smoking and the Role of Menthol in Tobacco Use Inequalities for Sexual Minorities ([link removed])
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** The Health and Care Bill was debated yesterday (14 July) in the House of Commons. The Bill, which includes powers that will see CCGs abolished and replaced with new integrated care systems (ICSs) and putting ICSs on a statutory footing, has passed the second[JW1] reading.

Speaking during the debate, Bob Blackman MP, Chairman of the APPG on Smoking and Health, and Alex Cunningham MP, a vice-chair of the APPG, called on the Government to include more measures to tackle smoking in the Bill. They urged the Government to implement a "polluter pays" levy to require the tobacco industry to pay for measures to end smoking by 2030.

Bob Blackman: [link removed]

Alex Cunningham: [link removed]

Source: Hansard, 14 July 2021
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Read Transcript ([link removed] )


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** Lord Faulkner of Worcester has successfully passed a motion regretting the Government’s failure to require COVID-19 related seating outside cafes, pubs and restaurants to be Smokefree. Lord Faulkner’s motion received strong cross-party support from peers across the House.

The Business and Planning Act 2020 currently requires licence-holders to include an option for smokefree seating in outdoor seating areas, but to date 9 councils have gone further and required 100% smokefree seating. These include:

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** Cities like Newcastle City Council [L] and Manchester City Council [L];
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** Counties like Durham (LD led cross party alliance) and Northumberland [C];
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** Unitary authorities like Middlesbrough (L) and North Lincolnshire [C];
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** Metropolitan boroughs like North Tyneside Council (L) and Gateshead Council (L); and the
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** London Borough of Brent.
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**
Source: Hansard, 14 July 2021

See also: ASH Press Release: House of Lords vote on smokefree pavement licences as councils hail local successes ([link removed] )
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Read Transcript ([link removed](PavementLicences)(Coronavirus)(Amendment)Regulations2021)
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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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