3. What further steps will the Welsh Government take to reduce levels of smoking? OAQ52406

Thank you for the question. Our tobacco control delivery plan, published in September last year, outlines the actions we are taking to further reduce smoking levels in Wales. For instance, I recently launched a consultation on regulations to prohibit smoking on hospital grounds, school grounds, local authority playgrounds, and the outdoor areas of registered childcare settings.

Cabinet Secretary, the Welsh Government smoking ban has helped reduce smoking, but it remains the leading cause of serious illness and avoidable early deaths in Wales, responsible, according to Action on Smoking and Health, for around 5,500 deaths every year, and the Welsh Government's target of reducing smoking prevalence to 16 per cent by 2020 will not be achieved on current projections. I welcome the provisions of the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 to enable further restrictions, as you've mentioned, and indeed the ability that that legislation gives to designate additional places as smoke-free, which I believe, for example, might include outdoor areas of cafes and restaurants, and town and city centres. Do you agree that extending restrictions in that way will further protect our people from passive smoking, help de-normalise smoking and encourage smokers to quit? 

Thank you for the question. I recognise that there may be evidence about further progress we could make by taking further action on smoking because, as you say, it is the leading cause of avoidable harm, and we need to do more to help people to quit, because the final point you made is just that. How do we help people to quit? By making sure that appropriate services are in place and, indeed, the way in which that service is provided. So, I expect that we'll see more being delivered within the community pharmacy as well, as part of what the future is likely to look like. And it will continue to be a topic of a regular conversation, because whenever we have a public health discussion and whenever we have a conversation about a major killer, we talk about the same things: smoking, alcohol, diet and exercise.

So, the regulations that I've already announced we're consulting on, we'll go forward with those and listen to the public about what else they want to see. The complaints I have from some people that don't want us to take action on making smoking more difficult are ones that I recognise, but not ones that will take this Government off course. And I will, of course, listen to the evidence about the possibility of future action to help achieve our main aim of de-normalising smoking here in Wales.     

Cabinet Secretary, Public Health England recently published its evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. The review states that vaping poses only a small fraction of the risks of smoking and that switching completely from smoking to vaping conveys considerable health benefits over continued smoking. It goes on to say that vaping is at least 95 per cent less harmful than smoking. Does the Cabinet Secretary agree with Public Health England that vaping should be widely encouraged as a way to help people quit smoking in Wales?  

Thank you for the question. We ran through this in the first version of the public health Bill that was not passed before the last Assembly election. At that time, there was real concern about the use of e-cigarettes, and it still remains, about the fact that they're often targeted at younger people, not as an alternative to smoking, and that we also can't be clear about what's in them because we don't regulate the make-up of e-cigarettes. So, I think it's honest to say that Public Health England have recognised that there is less risk from e-cigarettes than smoking. That is not the same as saying there is no risk. For different people, there will be different methods that help them to quit smoking, and that is what I would like to see. We will, of course, listen to the developing evidence base about all products within that that help people to give up smoking.