Health Bill [HL]

I support the amendment. I shall speak to my Amendment 107A, and I thank the noble Lords, Lord Rea and Lord Judd, and the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, who support it. I agree that we need a comprehensive strategy that encompasses all the issues relating to smoking and its reduction, particularly in the young. Throughout the world, the best tobacco-control interventions are those that are part of a clear, evidence-based plan that comprehensively addresses supply and demand alongside the problem of second-hand smoke. If we are to continue to drive down the prevalence of smoking and ensure that the legislation achieves all that it can to prevent youth smoking in particular, the measures proposed in the Bill must be part of a comprehensive strategy. Internationally and domestically, comprehensive strategies have been shown to be the most effective means to reduce smoking prevalence. The steady fall in smoking prevalence since 1998 in the UK can be attributed to the series of interventions which resulted from the publication of Smoking Kills and the additional funding that accompanied it. Internationally, that model has also found success. There are plenty of examples, Canada and New York being the key ones. Smoking Kills had a broad vision that is still necessary to address the enduring problems of health inequalities, youth uptake of smoking, exposure to second-hand smoke and the levels to which some groups are addicted to nicotine. Ambitious targets are needed. The targets from Smoking Kills have largely been met, but we need new targets to address the heavy inequalities caused by smoking, smuggling and the continuing problem of exposure to second-hand smoke. The key area is evaluation and reporting. Perhaps the greatest shortcoming of Smoking Kills was the absence of an evaluation plan. It is vital that any new strategy should have a plan for evaluation running through it from the start. When we embark on innovative public health policy, we are morally bound to evaluate it. I make a plea for the Government to produce a strategy that encompasses all that in one plan spanning a period of time with clear time lines and ways to evaluate how successful the strategy is. I emphasise the need to have an evaluation strategy built in from the outset, an oversight panel of health experts and other stakeholders, from which we should exclude the tobacco industry, and clear milestones with opportunities to review the various components.