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Reserves drop by £8bn as councils brace for service cuts
The levels of reserves held by councils dropped by £8bn in the last financial year, with councils now planning budgetary cuts to some services to shore up their positions.
The latest data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities reveals that council expenditure is higher than pre-pandemic levels. Net expenditure on services for 2022-23 is budgeted to be £3.7bn (3.5%) higher in real terms than it was in 2019-20. However, it is 1.5% (£1.6bn) lower than in 2021-22 when the country was still in the throes of the pandemic.
The figures also reflect recent volatility in councils' reserve levels. Levels of reserves fell from £31.3bn in March 2021 to £23.3bn in April 2022. Much of this decrease is thought to be down to councils receiving Covid grants before March 2021 and then spending them in the 2021-22 financial year. Furthermore the returns show councils forecast a further reduction in reserves of £2.9bn in the current financial year, largely due to using grant funding to cover Covid-related costs. In a briefing to members, the Local Government Association’s chair Councillor James Jamieson said this means that overall councils’ reserves at the end of the current year are “forecast to be close to the level that they were before the pandemic”.
The figures, which were released last week, also show how councils have had to prioritise their spending on statutory services. Children’s social care spend is up £348m (3.2%) and adult social care is up £351m (1.8%), but councils have only budgeted £4.8bn this year for highways and transport, which is £1.3bn (22%) less than the 2021-22 budget. Councils are also budgeting 1.8% less for housing (excluding housing revenue account) - £1.94bn compared to £1.90bn – and 4.7% less on public health (£3.65bn compared to £3.83bn).
Source: Local Government Chronicle, 26 July 2022
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ITV films patients stuck on hospital trolleys for days as NHS struggles to cope
ITV cameras have followed the current crisis in the NHS, revealing hospitals so overwhelmed that patients are being forced to sleep on trolleys for days on end outside A&E departments, and further resulting in record high delays to ambulance crews.
Over two days of filming with the North West Ambulance Service and Warrington Hospital, footage shows hospital staff extending their shifts through the night to try and clear the backlog, queues inside A&E spilling into queues outside too, and paramedic crews unable to attend new calls while they are waiting for hours to hand over patients to hospital staff.
The programme shows patients having a stroke or heart attack are waiting much longer than the expected 18 minutes, but many hours. These kinds of delays have seriously affected a patient’s recovery, say 85% of 2,300 ambulance staff by the GMB Union surveyed by ITV’s Tonight programme. 35% even told ITV they believed they had been involved in cases where delays contributed to a patient’s death.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer, said: “These horrifying figures confirm exactly what GMB members are telling us. A decade of savage cuts, an explosion in demand and ambulance workers leaving in droves has left the service on the edge of disaster. "
Source: ITV News, 27 July 2022
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ASA bans advertising claims with health subtext
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint relating to online advertising against Smokepops LDN, which it deemed misleading and socially irresponsible. The online retailer sells “crushable flavoured balls” that users insert into the filter of a cigarette to alter the flavour.
The ad, showing a video demonstration using a cigarette, was featured on Facebook in January and complaints were made challenging the use of the claim “safe to use” featured both on the retailer’s website and the video ad. Two additional claims flagged for potential misleading and irresponsible content were “Smokepops are formulated with organic essential oils, a healthy option that leaves your tastebuds excited and wanting more” and “made with optimum ingredients for optimum health”.
The ASA upheld all three complaints and Smokepops has agreed to remove the claims under investigation. ASA concluded the ads were irresponsible under CAP Code rule 1.3, which relates to social responsibility, highlighted the video demonstration using the cigarette “had the effect of encouraging smoking” and that (under CAP Code rule 3.1) any health claims were misleading given its intended use in conjugation with cigarettes.
Source: Nutraingredients, 27 July 2022
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Large amounts of illicit tobacco seized in Somerset raids
Trading Standards seized illegal tobacco estimated to be worth more than £200,000 in raids in Somerset and Devon on Friday, July 22. The seizure is one of the largest of its kind by the service.
Using specialist detection dogs officers executed five warrants. They raided two stores, a residential address and a storage container in Taunton, two business addresses in each of Exeter and Yeovil and a business and residential premises in Tiverton.
Source: Somerset Live, 27 July 2022
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Global study: Chronic lung disease remains major public health problem, especially in less developed countries
Globally, chronic lung disease (COPD) accounted for over 212 million cases, 3 million deaths, and 74 million years lost to ill health or disability in 2019, finds an analysis of the latest data from over 200 countries and regions in the BMJ today.
The findings show that while age-adjusted rates of COPD have declined over the past three decades, absolute counts are on the rise, with smoking and air pollution contributing to most of the health burden, especially among men. And with ageing populations, COPD will continue to become an even greater problem in the future, warn the researchers.
Researchers used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 to update estimates of prevalence (cases), deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) – a combined measure of quantity and quality of life – due to COPD for 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2019.
In 2019, Denmark, Myanmar, and Belgium had the highest age standardised COPD cases, while Egypt, Georgia, and Nicaragua showed the largest increases in age standardised cases across the study period.
Smoking was the leading risk factor for disability due to COPD, contributing to 46% of DALYs, followed by pollution from ambient particulate matter (21%) and occupational exposure particulate matter, gases and fumes (16%).
The study authors concluded that: “Despite the decreasing burden of COPD, this disease remains a major public health problem, especially in countries with a low sociodemographic index. Preventive programmes should focus on smoking cessation, improving air quality, and reducing occupational exposures to further reduce the burden of COPD.”
Source: ScienMag, 27 July 2022
See also: BMJ - Burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its attributable risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
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US: FDA tobacco science official takes job at Philip Morris
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official with considerable power over authorisation decisions for e-cigarettes and products aimed at curbing smoking resigned on Tuesday to work for Philip Morris International (PMI), the global tobacco conglomerate and maker of Marlboros.
The official, Matt Holman, was chief of the office of science in the agency’s Centre for Tobacco Products. Dr. Holman said in an interview on Wednesday that his role at Philip Morris would involve work on tobacco harm-reduction efforts and provide some input on regulatory submissions to the agency. In a memo to staff, Brian King, lauded Dr. Holman’s 20 years of work at the FDA, where he has in recent years been “preparing for and overseeing review” of marketing applications for e-cigarettes and other nicotine-delivery products.
His resignation adds further turmoil to the agency’s tobacco control division, which is undergoing a review ordered by Dr. Robert Califf, the agency’s commissioner. Among the FDA’s recent controversies was the decision in June to deny marketing authorisation to Juul Labs’ e-cigarettes. Since then, the agency has relented, announcing a review of its decision.
Dr. Holman’s move has been described as an example of the “revolving door” between federal officials and the industries they regulate. Currently, federal rules governing “revolving door” career moves do not prevent an official from overseeing regulatory matters one week and joining a corporation with products under review the next. Dr. Holman’s move has also raised questions about agency approvals, including that of Philip Morris’s IQOS, a “heat-not-burn” tobacco device, which some researchers have found troubling.
Source: New York Times, 27 July 2022
See also: Tobacco Tactics - The revolving door
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