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** 3 February 2022
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** UK
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** Levelling Up White Paper: Billions more needed to tackle health inequalities, says Marmot (#1)
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** Levelling Up White Paper: What you need to know about devolution (#1)
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** Boris Johnson prepares to overhaul his Downing Street operation (#3)
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** ACS releases new guide for e-cigarette and vaping sale regulations (#4)
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** Northamptonshire country park play areas go smoke-free (#5)
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** International
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** Netherlands: Animal rights MPs propose ban on plastic in cigarette filters (#6)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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Parliamentary questions (#7)


** UK
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** Professor Sir Michael Marmot, director of the Institute of Health Equity, has responded to the Government’s levelling-up white paper, released yesterday (2 February), by saying that tackling health inequalities in England will require billions of pounds more than the current budget. Marmot welcomed the Government’s 12 levelling-up “missions” but noted “no new money” for them.

The levelling-up white paper said ministers wanted to narrow “the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest” and set the target for HLE to rise by five years by 2035. On smokong, the white paper pointed to a disparity in smoking rates, 8% in wealthy Richmond upon Thames but 23% in Blackpool, as an example of the health inequalities which drive the stark regional and social differences in HLE. The Government also pointed to the creation of the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), with its focus on the top preventable risk factors such as smoking, as an example of the kind of action that would help to narrow health inequalities. It further promised that the upcoming White Paper on Health Disparities in England would address smoking and reiterated that a new Tobacco Control Plan due this year would focus on reducing smoking rates amongst the most disadvantaged areas and groups.

Marmot, however, said that action on all fronts was needed sooner given the scale of the problem, only exacerbated by COVID-19. Marmot pointed to the example of Germany, which spent two trillion euros in 25 years, or about £66bn a year, to level up. David Buck, senior fellow in public health and health inequalities at The King’s Fund, said that he was awaiting the new health white paper for more details on levelling up health specifically. He said that narrowing HLE was a “a big commitment” that needed more detail and a “true cross-Government approach”.

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** Source: i news, 2 February 2022

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** See also:
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** Policy Paper - Levelling Up the United Kingdom ([link removed])
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** The Health Foundation - If government is serious about ‘levelling up’, it must overhaul funding for general practice ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


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** The levelling up white paper launched yesterday (2 February) is set to see district councils lose their influence within combined authorities. The white paper says that ministers plan to legislate for a combined authority model made up of only upper-tier local authorities, with county councils and unitary councils able to be full members but district councils limited to “non-constituent members”.

The white paper reveals that the Government is to open negotiations immediately on “trailblazer deals” with West Midlands and Greater Manchester combined authorities, which it hopes to be a “blueprint” for other areas. On devolution, the white paper confirmed that the government "will not impose top-down restructuring of local government" but will “follow an incremental approach” with a “flexible, tiered approach” that allows areas to “deepen devolution at their own pace”.

However, the white paper does say that a “directly-elected leader covering a well-defined economic geography” is the “preferred model”. Governance will be grouped into three levels, with the top level defined by areas with a directly-elected leader and lower levels more flexible on leadership. If an area does not have a directly elected leader, the paper says that devolution "needs a clear decision-making structure” such as a leader and cabinet system for a single large local authority. One council leader told the LGC that this had changed his council’s plans, as it was now likely that councils with a directly-elected leader would receive more funding from the Government.

The white paper also says that areas seeking devolution should have combined populations of at least 500,000 and be “based on geographies that are locally recognisable in terms of identity, place and community”. The Government also plans to set up a new independent body to monitor the performance of local services, collecting more data which citizens would have access to. The new body is to be based outside London and to be developed in partnership with local government.
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Source: LGC, 2 February 2022

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** See also:
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** LGC - New devolution framework reveals ‘flexible’ governance options ([link removed])
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** LGC - New independent body to monitor performance ([link removed])
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**
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Read Article ([link removed])


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** Boris Johnson is to overhaul his Downing Street operation after pledging major changes following Sue Gray’s critical report into parties at Number 10 during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Johnson has pledged to create a new office of the prime minister, led by a permanent secretary, and to take on greater input from Sir Lynton Crosby, Johnson’s former political strategist as Mayor of London and strategist for the Conservative Party during the general election campaigns in 2015 and 2017.

Crosby's colleague at his political consultancy CTF Partners, David Canzini, is also in talks to join Downing Street. Johnson is also planning to resurrect policy boards to help better connect Number 10 and Conservative MPs, giving backbenchers the chance to influence policy. This move comes after a meeting with Tory MPs on Monday (31 January) in which most Conservatives opposed the Government’s obesity strategy, a ban on “buy one, get one free” food offers, with one MP concluding that this had given Johnson “evidence that the advice he gets in Number 10 is wrong”.

Whitehall officials said that Johnson’s plan for an office of the prime minister would, in effect, split the Cabinet Office into two, with its domestic functions hived off into the new ministry. Johnson is also considering a ministerial reshuffle, according to his allies, with a particular focus on replacing his team of Tory whips in the House of Commons. On Crosby, MPs were said to have cheered at a behind-closed doors meeting when Johnson announced his return, with the hope that Crosby can realign the Government’s thinking with public opinion and provide much-needed strategic nous.

However, Johnson’s allies remain concerned that the changes do not go far enough in response to Gray’s damning report, with MPs said to have expected a much bigger overhaul.

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** Source: Financial Times, 1 February 2022

See also: Independent - Boris Johnson brings back election guru Lynton Crosby as he pleads with MP for his job ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


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** The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has launched a new guide to help retailers with the sale and supply of e-cigarettes and other vaping products. The guide covers regulations on the sale and supply of e-cigarettes, retailers’ responsibilities when selling these products, ensuring that packaging and labelling are compliant with regulations, and avoiding underage sales.

The guide recommends that retailers use the Challenge25 policy when selling e-cigarette products, with new posters, badges, and other downloadable materials referring specifically to e-cigarettes now available as part of an update to the Challenge 25 materials launched in January 2021.

Source: Talking Retail, 2 February 2022

See also: ACS Guide - E-cigarettes ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


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** Play areas in Northamptonshire’s country parks are to become smokefree zones after North and West Northamptonshire committed to the measure in their Public Health Northamptonshire plan. Signs have been erected at play areas in the counties in a bid to reduce secondhand smoke exposure by children and to dissuade young people from starting smoking. Action came after a concerned member of the public flagged the issue after people were smoking around her children.

Source: BBC News, 2 February 2022
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Read Article ([link removed])


** International
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** The pro-animal PvdD party in the Netherlands submitted a parliamentary motion on Thursday (3 February) proposing a ban on cigarette filters containing plastic. The motion notes that cigarettes are the most common form of litter in the Netherlands and do not biodegrade easily, regularly finding their way into oceans and the soil where they leach harmful microplastics and chemicals.

There is debate in parliament about whether alternatives exist for tobacco filters. The PvdD motion submitted states that alternatives are available but previous infrastructure junior minister said in November 2021 that he would prefer to develop national laws to make manufacturers responsible for cleaning up cigarette litter as there was ‘currently no alternative’ for plastic filters.

From next year, a new European Single Use Plastics Directive will make producers of single-use plastic responsible for clean-up and its costs. Cigarettes were the most common item found in a clean-up day organised by Dutch anti-litter group Plastic Soup Foundation last year. A 2021 beach clean-up organised by Stichting De Noordzee saw 57,772 cigarette butts collected at 30 locations along the North Sea coast and an annual city-based clean-up collected around half a million butts.
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Source: Dutch News, 3 February 2022
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Read Article ([link removed])


** Parliamentary Activity
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**
PQs 1&2: Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016

Asked by Mary Glindon, North Tyneside

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 will be published before the new Tobacco Control Plan; and whether any recommendation identified from review will be considered when developing the plan.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016; and when he plans to publish that review.

Answered by Maggie Throup, Public Health Minister
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The Department’s response to the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 post implementation review is expected to be published shortly. The review’s report has been submitted to the Regulatory Policy Committee and we await the conclusion of its process.
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** The findings and recommendations from the report will be considered during the development of the new Tobacco Control Plan.

Source: Hansard ([link removed]) , 3 February 2022

PQs 3&4: WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Asked by Andrew Lewer, Northampton South

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the minutes, including details of the UK delegation, from the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Asked by Andrew Lewer, Conservative, Northampton South. To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to provide an update on the outcomes of the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Answered by Maggie Throup, Public Health Minister

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** All decisions and documentation from the ninth Conference of the Parties, including details of the United Kingdom’s delegation and a video recording is available at the following link:
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** [link removed] ([link removed])

Source: Hansard ([link removed]) , 3 February 2022

PQ5: Tobacco

Asked by Adam Afriyie, Windsor

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is aware of the statement by Action on Smoking and Health on 7 September 2004 on the legal framework for smoking tobacco and snus in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Maggie Throup, Public Health Minister

The Department is aware of the statement.

Source: Hansard ([link removed]) , 3 February 2022
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