View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** 14 February 2023
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Seven in ten councils to raise council tax by the maximum (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Alcohol advertising ban Scotland: What is in the plans and how far do they go? (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


** USA: Workers get support for Atlantic City casino smoking ban (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Seven in ten councils plan to raise council tax by the maximum

Seven in ten councils plan to raise council tax by the maximum amount allowed without a referendum this year, according to the Local Government Chronicle’s (LGC) annual council tax tracker.

Our analysis is based on 120 councils which have either announced their planned rises or responded to a request for this information.

In the Autumn Statement last year chancellor Jeremy Hunt, announced that the government would be lifting the threshold at which local authorities are able to raise council tax without a referendum, partly to provide additional funding to deal with pressures in social care.

The threshold has been raised to 2.99% for core council tax, with a further 2% for the social care precept. As part of the new social care funding measures, the Treasury indicated that it assumed 95% of councils would take up the full council tax rise.

LGC’s analysis shows 5% of councils plan to freeze council tax over the next financial year, with 25% planning council tax rises which sit under the maximum amount allowed.

Of the 83 upper tier authorities surveyed, almost 9 in 10 (89%) have said they will raise their social care precept by the maximum amount allowed, with 7% raising their council tax precept by the previous threshold of 1%.

However, only 37% of the 16 metropolitan district councils surveyed will be raising council tax by the maximum amount.

Source: Local Government Chronicle, 13 February 2023
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** Alcohol advertising ban Scotland: What is in the plans and how far do they go?

The Scottish Government is consulting on ways it can limit the advertisement of alcohol products, to combat what it calls the nation’s “deep, long-standing and troubled relationship with alcohol”.

The Government wants to curb the ability of the alcohol industry to advertise its products, much like the restrictions placed on the tobacco industry. This is part of efforts to reduce Scotland’s collective drinking – and with it limit the health implications and societal harm generated by alcohol consumption.

In the financial year 2020/21 there were 35,124 alcohol-related hospital admissions (stays) in Scotland, according to the latest Public Health Scotland (PHS) data. However, the number of hospital admissions per 100,000 population has actually fallen since 2007/08, from 855 per 100,000 population to 614 per 100,000 population in 2020/21.

Despite the reduction in hospitalisations, the number of deaths has gradually been rising since 2023, according to National Records of Scotland data. There were 1,245 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland in 2021, 5 per cent (55) more than in 2020.

The problem is worse in Scotland too. While in England, there were 14.8 alcohol-specific deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, in Scotland there were 22.3 deaths per 100,000.

The proposed ban is designed to target children and recovering alcoholics. Firstly, by preventing children and young people from being exposed to alcohol marketing, the Scottish Government is hoping young people will start drinking at a later age, and with less severity.

Secondly, the Scottish Government wants to prevent recovering alcoholics from being exposed to alcohol marketing, particularly within shops where it can be hard to avoid alcohol products and advertising when it is visible throughout the store. The consultation document suggests alcohol could be placed at the back of a store to avoid it being seen by recovering alcoholics and children.

Source: The Scotsman, 14 February 2023
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


** USA: Workers get support for Atlantic City casino smoking ban

Atlantic City casino dealers pushing for a smoking ban received support from several state lawmakers Monday at a long-awaited hearing on a bill that would end smoking inside the nine casinos.

Dealers, cocktail servers and other casino workers — some of them with breathing ailments and other health problems they suspect are related to secondhand smoke from casino patrons — testified before a state Senate panel in favour of a law that would close a loophole in the state’s 2006 indoor smoking law. That measure was written specifically to exempt casinos from bans on smoking indoors. Currently, smoking is permitted on 25% of a casino floor in Atlantic City.

Although no action was taken on the bill, numerous lawmakers supported a ban, calling it long overdue.

Whether to ban smoking is one of the most controversial issues not only in Atlantic City casinos, but in other states where workers have expressed concern about secondhand smoke. They are waging similar campaigns in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Support for a smoking ban is widespread among New Jersey lawmakers: Identical smoking ban bills are sponsored or co-sponsored by 51 Assembly members and 23 state Senators, representing a bipartisan majority in both chambers.

The bill needs to be voted upon in committees of the Senate and Assembly, then voted on by the full membership of those legislative bodies before going to the governor. Those hearings and votes have not yet been scheduled.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, has promised to sign the bill if it's passed by the Legislature.

Source: ABC news, 13 February 2023
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])

For more information email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
@ASHorguk ([link removed])

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.

============================================================
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
Unit 2.9, The Foundry
17 Oval Way
London
SE11 5RR

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])