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The extra cost pressures on council budgets will add £2.4bn onto budgets this year alone, rising to £3.6 billion by 2024-25 - posing a “serious risk” to the future financial viability of some councils, analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals.
In reference to the gathering storm of rising energy prices, spiralling inflation and projected increases to the national living wage, LGA chair James Jamieson (Conservative) warned: “Budgets are having to be reset with potential cuts to the essential services people rely on, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis [...] This will stifle our economic recovery, entrench disadvantage, and undermine government ambitions to level up the country.”
Speaking in the LGA annual conference earlier this week, Jamieson continued: “Only with adequate long term funding – to cover increased cost pressures and invest in local services - and the right powers, can councils deliver for our communities, tackle the climate emergency, and level up all parts of the country.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) spokesperson said: “This year, we made an additional £3.7 billion available to councils so they can continue delivering key services [...] helping the most vulnerable in society with the rising of cost of living.”
Source: Local Government Chronicle, 28 June 2022
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The communities secretary Michael Gove has warned councils of a “tough 12 months ahead” and not to have "false hope" about government support to cover the inflationary pressures, in an exclusive interview for LGC.
When asked whether Mr Gove had yet asked the Treasury for emergency grant funding to help them balance their budgets this year, he said “no, not yet”, continuing that councils’ “belts have been tightened in the past,” and that “all of us in central and local government have to live within those budgetary constraints.”
Mr Gove acknowledged he knew it would not just be councils deemed to be behaving recklessly with their finances coming to his department this year for extra funding support, but also those simply struggling under the weight of unavoidable inflationary pressures. “I'm very, very conscious, everyone in government is, that inflationary pressures are going to hit every part of the economy, and that it will have a bearing on the delivery of every public service. So we will be vigilant, and we will and do recognise that sometimes intervention is required,” he said. However, he added that it would not “be fair on local government or on anyone else to hold out the prospect of significant additional public spending. That just isn't the route.”
Gove assured LGC the Fair Funding Review will be published “shortly – within this calendar year”, after years of successive secretaries of state have been promising this, dating back to 2016. He admitted the need for reform and indicated that the government is looking at local areas being able to retain a greater share of local growth in business rates.
He emphasised the importance of strengthened and empowered local leadership in the Levelling Up mission, telling LGC: “I think local government is now at a pivotal moment, because if we think about all of the challenges that we face, as a country, local governments are at the heart of them.”
Source: Local Government Chronicle, 28 June 2022
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Growing workload and workforce pressures on general practice are making continuity of care harder to maintain and pose an 'existential threat' to patients and the profession, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) chair Professor Martin Marshall will warn today.
In a keynote speech at the RCGP annual conference - held in partnership with the World Organisation of Family Doctors Europe (WONCA Europe) - he will set out a five-point plan to 'modernise and reinvigorate' continuity of care for patients.
This is, in part, response to RCGP polling suggesting just 39% of respondents saying they were able to deliver the 'relational continuity or relationship-based care' their patients need, down from 60% in 2020.
Professor Marshall, a GP in Newham, East London, will tell the conference: "We know that patients who know and trust us are more likely to disclose that they are victims of domestic violence and more likely to provide a truthful assessment of their alcohol consumption [...] Patients really benefit from the simple fact that their family doctor has got to know them over time and has built mutual trust, and this is supported by a body of research evidence conducted over many decades in many different countries [...] in the absence of these relationships, general practice is less effective."
The speech comes as the college launches the latest report in its 'Fit for the Future' series, focusing on relationship-based care within the modern general practice landscape.
Source: GP Online, 29 June 2022
See also: GP crisis over next five years
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Researchers from the University of Nottingham, have conducted a literature review of the studies that investigate the emissions generated by heated tobacco products (HTPs) to examine whether they emit smoke. Professor Colin Snape and Dr Clement Uguna, experts in pyrolysis and hydropyrolysis (the heating of materials to convert to liquid or gas), received funding for this study from STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog. The paper has been published in the academic journal American Chemical Society Omega.
HTPs, which are often viewed as an alternative to cigarettes, are electronic devices that heat a rod or stick containing tobacco to produce vapours. The academics found that these devices generate Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHC) and other compounds linked to ill health. The study suggests that the emissions from heated tobacco products contain the same HPHCs as those found in cigarette smoke and fit the definition of smoke, containing compounds associated with biomass, wood and tobacco smoke.
Professor Snape said more work was needed to understand the relative harms of HTPs: “Analysis after repeated use needs to be investigated to provide more reliable assessments of the compounds released from the devices in relation to human use, as recommended by their respective manufacturers, before cleaning the device.”
The Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath is a partner in STOP. Commenting on the findings, Director of TCRG Professor Anna Gilmore said: “This new paper raises significant questions about manufacturers’ definitions of “smoke-free” and whether these definitions can be backed up by science. It’s clear that more independent research is needed so that policy makers and consumers understand fully the potential harms of using these products.”
Source: Mirage News, 28 June 2022
See also: Tobacco Tactics - Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs)
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New analysis by KAM and Lake Research, commissioned by Philip Morris Limited (PML), has found that over a third (35%) of convenience store owners in England would stop the sale of cigarettes in favour of smoke-free products to help adult smokers switch. The report sought to discover whether convenience retailers in England were helping smokers switch away from cigarettes by improving access to, and awareness of alternatives such as e-cigarettes.
Almost half (47%) of store owners believe they could be more involved in helping adult smokers switch to smoke-free alternatives. The report found several challenges preventing retailers from helping to switch smokers to alternative products. For example, many lack knowledge about alternative products.
Source: Convenience Store, 28 June 2022
See also: Tobacco Tactics - PMI's history using retailer "grassroots" movements
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A ban on promotions such as free bets offers would punish punters who bet safely and hit British racing's funding by millions of pounds per year, according to the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC). Anti-gambling campaigners have called for promotions such as free bets to be banned as part of the government's upcoming gambling review.
The BGC said research carried out by YouGov found that 69% of punters said free bets should be allowed, while 63% said they found promotions to be a valuable part of their hobby. Additionally, polling found that 28% of respondents would consider black market betting if free bets were banned. In their own analysis, BCG claimed the move would hit British racing's funding by approximately £5 million a year, as free bets are subject to the levy.
The government's White Paper on gambling reform is expected to be published in the coming weeks. A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport refused to comment on speculative proposals, but added: “We are undertaking the most comprehensive review of gambling laws in 15 years to ensure they are fit for the digital age.”
Source: Racing Post, 28 June 2022
See also: Independent – Government to publish White Paper on gambling reform
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A healthcare system model that offered tobacco cessation treatment to smokers being discharged from a hospital produced a higher rate of tobacco abstinence during the three-month program than referral to a state-based telephone quitline. But the advantage disappeared at six months when both treatments produced comparable quit rates, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found.
In a study of 1,409 adults published in JAMA Internal Medicine looking at the most effective post-discharge model for cessation, researchers suggested that extension beyond three months of the health system approach, which includes cessation medication and telephone-based behavioural support, could potentially keep individuals tobacco-free.
Nancy Rigotti, MD, Study Lead Author and Director of the Tobacco Research and Treatment Centre, MGH said: “Hospital admission is a great opportunity for smokers to begin tobacco cessation treatment. That treatment is only effective, however, if it continues after discharge. How to best meet that ongoing need is the question our study was designed to address."
Source: News Medical, 28 June 2022
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