13th March 2024
Welcome to our special No Smoking Day edition of the Smokefree Devon Alliance Newsletter!
 No Smoking Day, which takes place on the second Wednesday of March each year, is a great opportunity for partners across the country to unite in encouraging and supporting the nation’s 5.3 million smokers to make a quit attempt.
Established in 1984, this year marks the 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day. Since this time smoking prevalence has reduced by two thirds, but there is still some way to go to achieve our ambition of becoming a smoke-free nation by 2030.
Events are being held throughout Devon today:
Stop For Life Devon -
"Stop for Life Devon’s team will be out in our communities for No Smoking Day raising awareness and supporting people to begin their journey to becoming smoke free. At Stop For Life Devon, we value and strive for a local focus and presence in our communities. Our Stop Smoking Coaches and Engagement Team have picked hives of activity to spend No Smoking Day with and would love to have a chat with you about our service.
On No Smoking Day 2024, you will see team from Stop For Life Devon out and about in Barnstaple, at the Midwifery Unit Wellness Coffee Morning and also partnered with Recovery Devon at the Wellness Café held in Barnstaple Library. Both events are 10am-12pm, pop along a say hello! As well as in North Devon, our team will be available to talk all things stopping smoking at community hubs in Tiverton Library, the Watermark Art Centre and Library in Ivybridge and The Jamming Station in Totnes."
Your Health Torbay -
"We have a rep up at Torbay Hospital for National Stop Smoking Day event in the foyer, and also someone who can help out at the Paignton community hub for anyone who drops in"
If you want to help to support No Smoking Day and are looking for materials to share on social media, please access DHSC resources here - Better Health Quit Smoking | Campaigns | Campaign Resource Centre (dhsc.gov.uk)
If you want to find out more please contact your relevant healthy lifestyles organisation:
• Devon County Council Residents: Stop For Life Devon
Devon Stop Smoking Service | Devon County Council Stop Smoking Service Provided by Best You (stopforlifedevon.org)
0800 122 3866
• Torbay Council Residents: Your Health Torbay
Stop Smoking - Your Health Torbay
01803 422 422
• Plymouth City Council Residents: One You Plymouth
Quit Smoking | One You Plymouth
01752 437177
ASH on Spring Budget Tobacco & Vaping Plans
In the Spring Budget (6th March 2024) the Chancellor announced that “the government is introducing a new duty on vaping and increasing tobacco duty from October 2026, raising revenue to support public services like the NHS.” This will maintain the current financial incentive to choose vaping over smoking.
- The excise tax on vaping will raise £120 million in 2026-7 rising to £445 million by 2028-9
- The additional tobacco duty will raise a further £110 million in 2026-7 and £170 million in 2027-8 and in 2028-9
Vaping excise duty
A 12-week consultation on the policy design and technical details was launched today. Registrations for the vaping duty will open on 1 April 2026. The rates will be:
- £1.00 per 10ml for nicotine free liquids,
- £2.00 per 10ml on liquids that contain 0.1-10.9 mg nicotine per ml, and
- £3.00 per 10ml on liquids that contain 11mg or more per ml.
Tobacco tax changes
The government will also introduce a one-off tobacco duty increase of £2.00 per 100 cigarettes or 50 grams of tobacco from 1 October 2026.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said,
“Putting excise duty on vapes gives much needed additional powers to Border Force and HMRC to stop the import of illegal vapes which are flooding the market and need to be brought under control. These are powers they already have for tobacco which helped reduce the consumption of illegal cigarettes by 80% between 2000 and 2021."
“The additional increase in tobacco taxes is welcome, as keeping vaping cheaper than smoking is vital to encourage smokers trying to quit to switch to vapes which are the most effective stop smoking aid available over the counter.”
“However, it’s smokers and those trying to quit and stay quit who will be paying these extra taxes. It takes the average smoker thirty attempts before they successfully quit, and specialist support and anti-smoking campaigns can increase the likelihood of success many times over. These new taxes should be used to plug the cuts in prevention measures and help the government achieve its smokefree 2030 ambition.”
The additional tax take of £230 million in 2026-7 rising to £615 million in 2028-9 will come from the pockets of consumers not the industry. Smokers and smokers trying to quit and stay quit will pay the price. The Chancellor has missed the opportunity to raise up to £700 million more to help plug the public finance gap, by capping the excessive and extreme profits of the tobacco manufacturers.
Dr Rob Branston, senior lecturer in business economics at the University of Bath said,
“Tobacco manufacturers are an untapped source of tax revenue, with net operating profits far in excess of other businesses. For example Imperial Tobacco made 71% profits in 2021, that’s £71 for every £100 turnover, more than ten times as great as the profit margin of BP. [3]
"By capping profits to 10% while keeping retail prices the same, the government could raise up to £700 million a year from tobacco manufacturers without putting an additional burden on consumers. This is far more than the £500 million its estimated that the additional tobacco and vape tax will raise, all of which will come from the pockets of consumers rather than industry profits.”
ASH comment on Budget decisions on tobacco and vaping - ASH
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Staff and visitors to DCC's County Hall were able to speak to Hayley, Engagement Lead from Stop For Life Devon, as well as having their blood pressure checked, learning about ways to stay well and exploring staff benefits & services at a recent event.
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Would you like to offer free vape starter kits to users in your service?
The Government has announced a new “swap to stop” scheme designed to improve health outcomes and cut smoking rates in England. One million smokers will be encouraged to swap cigarettes for vapes under a push to make the nation “smoke free”. As part of the world-first national scheme, approximately one in five smokers in England will be provided with a vape starter kit, funded by OHID.
Devon Public Health Team would like to invite any organisations or services who may wish to access the Swap to Stop scheme to offer free vape starter kits to their service users to a webinar on 17/04/24 2-3pm on Teams. For a registration link, or more details, please contact Hannah.Dearden-Watts@devon.gov.uk.
Smokefree Devon Alliance Website
We are reviewing and updating our website to improve it as a source for professionals. Welcome to Smokefree Devon - Smokefree Alliance Devon
Any comments on how the website could be improved are welcome please send comments to publichealth-mailbox@devon.gov.uk
The newsletters will be shared on our www.smokefreedevon.org.uk/ website to be accessible to all in the future. Alliance newsletter - Smokefree Alliance Devon (smokefreedevon.org.uk)
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