The survey from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and Cancer Research UK has revealed that for the first time since the transfer of public health to local government a decade ago, all surveyed local authorities commissioned a stop smoking service, providing essential support to those who want to quit.
Tobacco control was rated as a high or above-average priority in 88 per cent of local authorities. This is the highest it’s ever been, up from 63 per cent in the 2023 survey (the previous highest year).
The previous government committed an additional £70m a year for local stop smoking services until 2030, along with extra funding to tackle the illicit market and a ‘swap to stop’ programme providing free e-cigarettes to those quitting smoking. The survey found that this additional investment, which commenced in the 2023/2024 financial year, has enabled councils to expand and promote their quit smoking offer and provide more targeted support to communities with the highest levels of need.
The current government has committed to maintain the additional funding for stop smoking services and enforcement for the 2025/26 financial year. However, there is uncertainty over the status of the local public health grant (which contributes half the cost of local stop smoking services), the swap to stop programme, and national programmes such as financial incentives in pregnancy, mass media campaigns and investment in services through the NHS. Councils reported that the lack of certainty around long term funding has made recruitment, planning, and commissioning a challenge, putting cessation services at risk.
Jim Pattison, policy and public affairs officer at ASH, said, “Local services to help people quit smoking are a vital part of a roadmap to a smokefree country. However, the short-term nature of current funding undermines this goal, making it difficult to effectively plan, commission and deliver such services. A levy on tobacco companies would secure long-term funding and allow councils to accelerate progress towards a smokefree future, ending the harms from smoking for good.”
ASH has called on the government to match the previous government’s investment, given the significant burden that smoking places on public services and the economy. The charity has said the government could further limit the burden on public finances by raising the funding needed through a ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco manufacturers.
Alizée Froguel, prevention policy manager for Cancer Research UK, said, “Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer in the UK, and stopping completely is the best thing you can do for your health. While it’s positive that government investment is helping to expand and promote stop smoking services, communities across the UK need assurance that this funding will be sustained.
“We urge the UK government to produce a long-term strategy for cessation support that can be backed by a ‘polluter pays’ levy on the tobacco companies that profit from lethal addiction. The road to a smokefree UK should not be threatened by funding uncertainty – we need to give people the best chance of quitting.”