From Action on Smoking and Health <[email protected]>
Subject ASH Daily News for 23 August 2021
Date August 23, 2021 12:06 PM
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** 23 August 2021
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** UK
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** UK's most deprived areas have highest number of gambling outlets - report (#1)
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** County devo process 'will move quickly', says CCN chair (#2)
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** NHSE sets 'expectations' CCG board members will transfer to ICSs (#3)
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** International
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** Smoking research body bans sector from forum (#4)
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** Current focus on preventing youth vaping could hinder adults' efforts to stop smoking, say researchers (#5)
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** UK
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New research has found that the UK’s most deprived areas have more than 10 times the number of betting shops than the most affluent parts of the country. The report, commissioned by the Standard Life Foundation charity, found that there were more than 10,000 gambling venues in Britain, of which 21% are in the most deprived decile of areas of Britain with just 2% in the wealthiest.

The report found that Glasgow had the most betting shops, one for every 3,264 people, with Liverpool, poorer parts of London, and Middlesbrough not far behind. The report also found that half of the 348 gambling treatment services mapped out were within five minutes’ walk of a gambling premises. The report found that the correlation with deprivation was strongest for bingo halls followed by ''family entertainment centres’’ typically found in more deprived coastal towns and amusement arcades.

The report found that bookmakers showed a weaker correlation to deprivation but still one that was ''statistically significant’’. It highlighted existing concerns about ''clustering’’ by gambling companies, which have previously been accused of opening multiple shops in the same area to squeeze in more fixed-odds betting terminals, which are linked to high rates of addiction.

Land-based gambling, as opposed to online, still accounts for about 44% of the £10.2bn of gamblers’ losses in Britain every year, and research published earlier this year showed a similar correlation between poverty and online gambling. Pointing to a 2018 YouGov survey showing that 73% of people would not want a gambling venue on their ‘’ideal high street’’, the report’s authors said that local authorities should have greater powers to prevent gambling venues from opening up.

Source: The Guardian, 23 August 2021

See also:
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** Standard Life Foundation - The geography of gambling in Britain ([link removed])
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** The Guardian - People from poor UK areas more likely to be high-risk online gamblers - study ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


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** The chair-elect of the County Councils Network (CCN) says he expects the emerging process for county devolution deals to progress rapidly despite uncertainty about what exactly it could involve. Chair-elect Tom Oliver said that he expected discussions to focus on “what can be done quickly”, with any structural reorganisation limited to a handful of areas at most.

A number of councils have already responded to the government’s request for those interested in discussing early devolution deals to formally express interest by last week (beginning 16th August), including Hampshire, Surrey and Suffolk CCs and four East Midlands councils. Oliver said that he expects the Government to act swiftly in response to these, with a meeting scheduled at the end of the month between Government levelling up advisor Neil O’Brien and the CCN.

Oliver said that he expected the Government to take forward a limited number of pilot schemes. He said that the Government is expecting conversations to be led by upper-tier authorities and had emphasised strong and visible leadership as a key criterion for successful devolution. The prime minister and Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government have indicated that directly elected leaders could be part of the deals, although it is unclear exactly how this would work.

Oliver reiterated that “really, the focus of government is to see what can be done quickly” and without primary legislation. Oliver said that the CCN is “very much behind” conversations about county deals.

Source: LGC, 20 August 2021
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** NHS England (NHSE) says that it expects board level staff at clinical commissioning groups to transfer to new ‘designate roles’ or ‘displaced positions’ within Integrated Care Systems. A new HR framework, published today, says ICSs should seek to find suitable alternative roles for these senior staff but does not offer any guarantee they would retain the same terms and conditions.

HSJ has previously reported how CCG staff below board level have been given a continued employment promise when ICSs are created, meaning they will “lift and shift” into guaranteed jobs with the same terms and conditions. Previous guidance did not extend this guarantee to board level staff, nor did it state they were expected to transfer to ICSs.

Source: HSJ, 20 August 2021
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** International
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** The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) has voted to ban tobacco industry employees from attending its annual conference following increased complaints from members about “perceived unprofessional or problematic behaviour” from tobacco industry representatives.

The SRNT, an international non-profit organisation and professional association, voted for the ban following complaints such as tobacco industry representatives disrespecting presenters during question-and-answer sessions, removing and hiding name badges during scientific sessions, attending members-only meetings, and prominently using the society’s name in press releases to imply an endorsement of company findings.

The society concluded that many of the tobacco industry’s actions ran counter to its values of transparency, commitment to maintaining the public trust, the public good, and social justice. Specifically, it said that the industry, despite calls for change, had persisted in targeting specific populations, “including black and brown communities, indigenous groups, LGBTQ+ individuals and low-income communities in the United States, Europe, and Oceania. In addition, the tobacco industry continues to target low and middle-income countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.’’

The ban could be extended beyond next year’s annual conference in Baltimore, USA. Tobacco industry employees are already prohibited from becoming members of the society or participating in members-only activities, such as networking and webinars, and the board is reviewing its policies for other society-sponsored activities and the implications for its divisions in Europe and Oceania.

Source: The Times, 20 August 2021
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** Kenneth Warner and 14 other past presidents of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco have co-authored an article in which they argue that the sceptical attitude towards e-cigarettes amongst the media, legislators, and the general public, developed because of the emphasis public health organizations have placed on protecting kids from vaping, has hindered a recognition of the potentially substantial benefits of e-cigarettes in helping adults to quit smoking.

The article, published in the American Journal of Health, argues that policies orientated exclusively towards protecting kids may be responsible for more adults smoking than would otherwise with policies also emphasising the value of vaping for helping adults to quit smoking, and more honestly characterised the risks of vaping. A majority of US adults, including most smokers, believe that vaping is more dangerous or as dangerous as cigarette smoking.

The article cites a recent study which found that 70% of US news coverage on vaping mentioned vaping's risks to kids while only 37% noted the potential benefits for adult smokers. Warner and colleagues say that the percentage of kids being addicted to nicotine by vaping is much smaller than popularly believed, with smoking rates falling among young people at unprecedented rates precisely during the period of vaping's ascendancy.

Warner and colleagues recommend several policies which balance the risks of youth uptake with the benefits of e-cigarettes for adults. They suggest restricting the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes to adult-only establishments such as vape shops. They also recommend a substantial increase in excise taxes on cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products and a much more modest tax on e-cigarettes, which they say will be enough to dissuade kids from vaping as they are the most price-sensitive group.

Source: Medical Xpress, 20 August 2021

See also: AJPH - Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes ([link removed])
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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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