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** 24 January 2022
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** UK
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** Tobacco company funded litter campaign launches in Bristol (#1)
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** Most of UK's levelling up taskforce based in London, figures reveal (#2)
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** MPs criticise UK gambling regulator for trying to reduce addiction (#3)
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** Matthew Taylor: Seizing powers from councils? ICSs will do quite the opposite (#4)
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** International
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** Chinese vape flavour maker hit by Beijing investigation (#5)
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** UK
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Clean Up Britain and Ellipsis Earth are leading a new Philip Morris funded campaign to clean up cigarette litter in Bristol. The campaign, entitled ‘Get Your Butt Off Our Streets’, will see up to 100,000 portable ashtrays distributed as well as print advertising and a social media campaign. The campaign will last four months, ending in April. Drones will be used at the start and end of the campaign to assess whether there is a change in visible cigarette litter on Bristol’s streets.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: “We invest £6 million each year in tackling litter, which includes people dropping cigarette butts. Action against litter includes fining 3,985 people in the last year for littering offences. Our public health team also works hard to support people who want to quit smoking. We welcome the efforts of any group that wants to clean up our streets […]. We have not been directly involved in developing this campaign as the source of its funding is the tobacco industry and this contravenes our Advertising and Sponsorship Policy.”

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** Source: Bristol Post, 21 January 2022

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** Editorial note: ASH released the following press comment on this story.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “Our obligations under the WHO international tobacco treaty prohibit branches of government, whether national, or local like Bristol City Council, from partnering with the tobacco industry or its front groups like Clean Up Britain, except through legally enforceable agreements. That’s why Bristol was right not to be a partner in this campaign. It’s also why the Government needs to get a move on and put in place legislation to make the industry clean up the toxic waste that it creates.”

“This campaign is greenwashing, pure and simple, it attempts to make the tobacco industry look good by putting the blame on smokers. It’s tobacco companies, not smokers, responsible for the cigarette butts made out of long-lasting plastic which sits there leaching toxic waste into the earth, our rivers and our oceans. Big Tobacco needs to take the blame and clear up the mess caused by the highly addictive cigarettes it sells day in day out to over 6 million smokers in the UK.”

“As set out in the Government’s Litter Strategy for England, the most effective way to tackle smoking related litter is by reducing the prevalence of smoking in the first place. Hardly surprising for a campaign funded by a tobacco company it doesn’t encourage smokers to quit, if anything this campaign promotes smoking by publicising it on social media, bus stop posters, pavement installations and the provision of 100,000 free portable ashtrays.”
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** New figures show that two-thirds of officials working on the UK Government’s levelling up policy are based in London. The figures show that 1,929 of the 3,011 civil servants on the levelling up taskforce are based in the capital with the second largest group working on levelling up, totaling only 129, based in Wolverhampton, where there is a second levelling up headquarters.

The figures were revealed in response to a written question submitted by shadow secretary for levelling up Lisa Nandy, who said that the situation was “insulting”. In a speech on civil service reform in 2020, the secretary for levelling up Michael Gove said that the Government would consider relocating Government decision-making to different parts of the UK. The long-awaited levelling up white paper, now expected in early February, has already been delayed several times.

Gove has already clashed with the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, over whether new funding should be released for levelling up. The white paper is thought to include several “missions” on broad topics such as life expectancy and obesity and ensuring every child has access to a good school. It is expected to make new proposals for devolution, including extending the mayoral model.
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Source: The Guardian, 23 January 2022
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A committee of MPs has produced a report criticizing the gambling industry regulator for trying to reduce gambling addiction and urging ministers to take it into special measures. The report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Betting and Gaming has been described as “ludicrous” by one campaigner for regulatory reform and has been met with opposition from the regulator.

The report concerns the Gambling Commission, which it labels “in urgent need of change” as it is too harsh and risks “the destruction of one of the world’s best gambling industries”. It accuses the Commission of acting beyond its remit “in its strategy of seeking to significantly reduce the number of problem gamblers”. The report then calls on the Government to take the Commission into special measures whilst determining whether it should continue as it is. The intervention comes weeks before the government is due to publish the results of a once-in-a-generation review of gambling laws, with the commission thought to be playing a major part in finalising proposals.

The APPG on Betting and Gambling has already caused controversy as several of its MPs have faced criticism for accepting free gifts from the gambling industry whilst advocating for it in parliament or in the media. The group’s Chair, Conservative MP Scott Benton, Vice-Chair, Labour MP John Spellar, and another member, Conservative MP Aaron Bell, have all accepted tickets last Summer to events such as Euro 2020, Ascot, and Lord’s from Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, online gambling firm Gamesys, and industry lobby group the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC).

On Sunday evening (23 January) the APPG’s vice-chair, Labour MP Conor McGinn, quit the APPG over the report. The Gambling Commission says that it did not receive a copy of the report allowing it to officially respond, in line with usual practice. Previous reports by the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office have concluded that the regulator is not tough enough.

Source: The Guardian, 23 January 2022
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** Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, says that Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) will help to achieve a greater balance in power between the NHS and local authorities. Responding to those who argue that ICSs could have a negative impact on local authorities, Taylor says that greater integration is good for the development of both the NHS and local authorities. He argues that integration has already occurred effectively throughout the pandemic and in specific local examples and will be built on and further enabled by the passage of the Health and Care Bill.

Taylor argues that ICSs will help usher in greater investment in community-based preventative care. ICSs will decide NHS spending but include a member nominated by local government, which has not been seen since the NHS began in 1948. He further argues that there will be more opportunities for collaboration ahead. First, local government will have a key role in new integrated care partnerships (ICPs) within ICSs – but Taylor says they must be given real power and influence. Second, Taylor says there are key opportunities for local government to play a leading role in ‘place’. Taylor says that he hopes that the individuals who will be made accountable by the Health and Care Bill for health and care planning at place level will come from local authorities.

Third, he argues that local authorities will play a key role in discussions on how to embed closer integration between health services and local government at neighbourhood level. Taylor says that local government and primary care leaders will agree shared strategies for addressing the health and care needs of communities at this level. He concludes that it is at these three levels – neighbourhood, place, and system – that the greater partnership he foresees through ICSs between the NHS and local authorities will be critical.
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** Source: LGC, 21 January 2022
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** International
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** Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched an investigation into Chinese vaping tycoon Chu Lam Yiu for so-called “unspecified suspected disciplinary violations” as Xi Jinping intensifies his crackdown on corruption, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. Lam Yiu is one of the richest self-made women in China and has a majority stake in the tobacco flavouring company Huabao International Holdings, whose shares tumbled by over 65% after the announced investigation.

Huabao was launched by Chu when in her mid-20s in 1996 and produced flavours and fragrances used by tobacco manufacturers, including in their e-cigarettes, as well as food companies. The company’s growth has catapulted Chu to rank among China’s richest people. According to the Hurun Report, Chu had amassed a fortune of $7.6bn (£5.6bn) as of last year, ranking 122 amongst China’s richest people, down from a high of 46 in 2012. Like many high-profile Chinese businesspeople, she has also served on various industry and government advisory committees.

The probe into Chu comes as China’s long-running anti-corruption campaign gathers momentum as Xi seeks a historic third term. It follows expectations that China’s tobacco industry will be hit by tougher regulation and oversight as part of Xi’s “common prosperity” drive. Huabao says that indications are that the probe is being carried out by the Chinese Communist Party and local government, but no more details were provided and Huabao did not answer further questions.
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Source: Financial Times, 24 January 2022
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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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